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THE 



LADY OF THE LAKE 



BY 



SIR WALTER SCOTT, Bart. 



EDITED WITH NOTES BY 



■ ty' 



^■ 



WILLIAM jrROLFE, A.M., Litt.D. 

FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



WITIf ILLUSTRATIONS 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 

1891 






Copyright, 1882 and 1883, 
By James R. Osgood and Company. 



All rights reserved. 






The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass. , U. S. A. 
Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company. 



ARGUMENT. 



The scene of the following Poem is laid chiefly in the vicin- 
ity of Loch Katrine, in the Western Highlands of Perthshire. 
The time of Action includes Six Days, and the transactions 
of each Day occupy a Canto. 



PREFACE 



When I first saw the beautiful illustrated Holiday Edition of The 
Lady of the Lake, I asked to be allowed to use some of the cuts in a 
cheaper annotated edition for school and household use ; and the 
present volume is the result. 

The text of the poem has given me unexpected trouble. When I 
edited some of Gray's poems several years ago, I found that they had 
not been correctly printed for more than half a century; but in the 
case of Scott I supposed that the text of Black's so-called "Author's 
Edition" could be depended upon as accurate. Almost at the start, 
however, I detected sundry obvious misprints in one of the many 
forms in which this edition is issued, and an examination of others 
showed that they were as bad in their way. The " Shilling " issue was 
no worse than the costly illustrated one of 1853, which had its own 
assortment of slips of the type. No two editions that I could obtain 
agreed exactly in their readings. I tried in vain to find a copy of the 
editio princeps {1810) in Cambridge and Boston, but succeeded in get- 
ting one through a London bookseller. This I compared, line by line, 
with the Edinburgh edition of 182 1 (from the Harvard Library), with 
Lockhart's first edition, the " Globe " edition, and about a dozen others, 
English and American. I found many misprints and corruptions in 
all except the edition of 182.1, and a few even in that. For instance, 
in i. 217 Scott wrote " Found in each clift a narrow bower," and it is 
so printed in the first edition ; but in every other that I have seen " cliff " 
appears in place of clift, to the manifest injury of the passage. In ii. 
685, every edition that I have seen since that of 182 1 has " I meant not 
all my heart might say," which is worse than nonsense, the correct 
reading being " my heatP In vi. 396, the Scottish " boune " (though it 
occurs twice in other parts of the poem) has been changed to " bound " 
in all editions since 1821 ; and, eight lines below, the old word " barded " 
has become " barbed." Scores of similar corruptions are recorded in 
my Notes, and need not be cited here. 



VI PREFACE. 

I have restored the reading of the first edition, except in cases where 
I have no doubt that the later reading is the poet's own correction or 
alteration. There are obvious misprints in the first edition which 
Scott himself overlooked (see on ii. 115, 217, vi. 527, etc.), and it is 
sometimes difficult to decide whether a later reading-- a change of a 
plural to a singular, or like trivial variation — is a misprint or the 
author's correction of an earlier misprint. I have done the best I 
could, with the means at my command, to settle these questions, and 
am at least certain that the text as I give it is nearer right than in 
any edition since 1821. As all the varice lediones are recorded in the 
Notes, the reader who does not approve of the one I adopt can sub- 
stitute that which he prefers. 

I have retained all Scott's Notes (a few of them have been some- 
what abridged) and all those added by Lockhart.^ My own I have 
made as concise as possible. There are, of course, many of them whicfi 
many of my readers will not need, but I think there are none that may 
not be of service, or at least of interest, to some of them ; and I hope 
that no one will turn to them for help without finding it. 

Scott is much given to the use of Elizabethan words and construc- 
tions, and I have quoted many " parallelisms " from Shakespeare and 
his contemporaries. I believe I have referred to my edition of Shake- 
speare in only a single instance (on iii. 17), but teachers and others 
who have that edition will find many additional illustrations in the 
Notes on the passages cited. 

While correcting the errors of former editors, I may have over- 
looked some of my own. I am already indebted to the careful proof- 
readers of the University Press for the detection of occasional slips 
in quotations or references ; and I shall be very grateful to my readers 
for a memorandum of any others that they may discover. 

Cambridge, June 23, 1883. 



^ One of Scott's (on vi. 47) has suffered badly in Lockhart's editior. In a quotation 
from Lord Berners's Froissart (which I omit) a whole page seems to have dropped out, 
and the last sentence, as it now stands, is made up of parts of the one preceding and 
the one following the lost matter. It reads thus (I mark the gap) : " There all the 
companyons made them [ . . . ] breke no poynt of that ye have ordayned and com- 
maunded." This is palpable nonsense, but it has been repeated without correction 
in every reprint of Lockhart's edition for the last fifty years. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

THE LADY OF THE LAKE ........ I 

Canto First 3 

" Second 29 

" Third 59 

" Fourth 86 

*' Fifth 114 

" Sixth 144 

Notes 173 




BEHVEiUJE, FROM ACURAY WATBR. 




SAINT FILLAN's HILL. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO FIRST. 



THE CHASE. 

Harp of the North ! that mouldering long hast hung 

On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring, 
And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, 

Till envious ivy did around thee cling, 
Muffling with verdant ringlet every string, — 

O Minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleejo ? 
Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, 

Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep, 
Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep ? 



4 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto l 

Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, lo 

Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd, 
When lay of hopeless love, or glory won. 

Aroused the fearful or subdued the proud. 
At each according pause was heard aloud 

Thine ardent symphony sublime and high ! 
Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bowed ; 

For still the burden of thy minstrelsy 
Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's matchless eye. 



O, wake once more ! how rude soe'er the hand 

That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray ; 
O, wake once more ! though scarce my skill command 

Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay : 
Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away. 

And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, 
Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway. 

The wizard note has not been touched in vain. 
Then silent be no more ! Enchantress, wake again ! 



I. 



The stag at eve had drunk his fill. 

Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, 

And deep his midnight lair had made 3c 

In lone Glenartney's hazel shade ; 

But when the sun his beacon red 

Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, 

The deep-mouthed bloodhound's heavy bay 

Resounded up the rocky way. 

And faint, from farther distance borne, 

Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. 



CANTO I. THE CHASE. 



II. 

As Chief, who hears his warder call, 

' To arms ! the foemen storm the wall/ 

The antlered monarch of the waste 40 

Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. 

But ere his fleet career he took, 

The dew-drops from his flanks he shook \ 

Like crested leader proud and high 

Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky j 

A moment gazed adown the dale, 

A moment snuffed the tainted gale, 

A moment listened to the cry. 

That thickened as the chase drew nigh ; 

Then, as the headmost foes appeared, 50 

With one brave bound the copse he cleared. 

And, stretching forward free and far, 

Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. 



m. 

Yelled on the view the opening pack ; 

Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back ; 

To many a mingled sound at once 

The awakened mountain gave response. 

A hundred dogs bayed deep and strong, 

Clattered a hundred steeds along. 

Their peal the merry horns rung out, 60 

A hundred voices joined the shout ; 

With hark and whoop and wfld halloo, 

No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. 

Far from the tumult fled the roe. 

Close in her covert cowered the doe, 

The falcon, from her cairn on high. 

Cast on the rout a wondering eye. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto r. 

Till far beyond her piercing ken 

The hurricane had swept the glen. 

Faint, and more faint, its failing din 70 

Returned from cavern, chff, and linn, 

And silence settled, wide and still, 

On the lone wood and mighty hill. 

IV. 

Less load the sounds of sylvan war 

Disturbed the heights of Uam-Var, 

And roused the cavern where, 't is told, 

A giant made his den of old ; 

For ere that steep ascent was won, 

High in his pathway hung the sun. 

And many a gallant, stayed perforce, 80 

Was fain to breathe his faltering horse, 

And of the trackers of the deer 

Scarce half the lessening pack was near ; 

So slirewdly on the mountain-side 

Had the bold burst their mettle tried. 

V. 

The noble stag was pausing now 

Upon the mountain's southern brow. 

Where broad extended, far beneath, 

The varied realms of fair Menteith. 

With anxious eye he wandered o'er 90 

Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, 

And pondered refuge from his toil, 

By far Lochard or Aberfoyle. 

But nearer was the copsewood gray 

That waved and wept on Loch Achray, 

And mingled with the pine-trees blue 

On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. 



CANTO I. THE CHASE. 7 

Fresh vigor with the hope returned, 

With flying foot the heath he spurned, 

Held westward with unwearied race, loo 

And left behind the panting chase. 

VI. 

'T were long to tell what steeds gave o'er, 

As swept the hunt through Cambusmore ; 

What reins were tightened in despair, 

When rose Benledi's ridge in air ; 

Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath, 

Who shunned to stem the flooded Teith, — 

For twice that day, from shore to shore, 

The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. 

Few were the stragglers, following far, no 

That reached the lake of Vennachar ; 

And when the Brigg of Turk was won, 

The headmost horseman rode alone. 

VII. 

Alone, but with unbated zeal, 

That horseman plied the scourge and steel ; 

For jaded now, and spent with toil, 

Embossed with foam, and dark with soil, 

While every gasp with sobs he drew, 

The laboring stag strained full in view. 

Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, 120. 

Unmatched for courage, breath, and speed, 

Fast on his flying traces came, 

And all but won that desperate game ; 

For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch^ 

Vindictive toiled the bloodhounds stanch ; 

Nor nearer might the dogs attain. 

Nor farther might the quarry strain. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO L. 




THE BRIGG OF TURK. 



Thus up the margin of the lake, 

Between the precipice and brake, 

O'er stock and rock their race they take. 



130 



VIII. 

The Hunter marked that mountain high, 
The lone lake's western boundary, 
And deemed the stag must turn to bay, 
Where that huge rampart barred the way ; 
Already glorying in the prize, 
Measured his antlers with his eyes ; 



CANTO r. THE CHASE. 9 

For the death-wound and death-halloo 

Mustered his breath, his whinyard drew : — 

But thundering as he came prepared, 

With ready arm and weapon bared, 140 

The wily quarry shunned the shock. 

And turned him from the opposing rock ; 

Then, dashing down a darksome glen, 

Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken, 

In the deep Trosachs' wildest nook 

His solitary refuge took. 

There, while close couched the thicket shed 

Cold dews and wild flowers on his head, 

He heard the baffled dogs in vain 

Rave through the hollow pass amain, 150 

Chiding the rocks that yelled again. 



IX. 



Close on the hounds the Hunter came, 

To cheer them on the vanished game ; 

But, stumbling in the rugged dell, 

The gallant horse exhausted fell. 

The impatient rider strove in vain 

To rouse him with the spur and rein, 

For the good steed, his labors o'er. 

Stretched his stiff limbs, to rise no more ; 

Then, touched with pity and remorse, 160 

He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. 

' I little thought, when first thy rein 

I slacked upon the banks of Seine, 

That Highland eagle e'er should feed 

On thy fleet Hmbs, my matchless steed ! 

Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, 

That costs thy life, my gallant gray ! ' 



lO THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto i. 



X. 

Then through the dell his horn resounds, 

From vain pursuit to call the hounds. 

Back limped, with slow and crippled pace, 170 

The sulky leaders of the chase ; 

Close to their master's side they pressed, 

With drooping tail and humbled crest ; 

But still the dingle's hollow throat 

Prolonged the swelling bugle-note. 

The owlets started from their dream, 

The eagles answered with their scream, 

Round and around the sounds were cast, 

Till echo seemed an answering blast ; 

And on the Hunter hied his way, iSo 

To join some comrades of the day, 

Yet often paused, so strange the road, 

So wondrous were the scenes it showed. 



XI. 

The western waves of ebbing day 

Rolled o'er the glen their level way \ 

Each purple peak, 'each flinty spire. 

Was bathed in floods of living fire. 

But not a setting beam could glow 

Within the dark ravines below, 

Where twined the path in shadow hid, 190 

Round many a rocky pyramid. 

Shooting abruptly from the dell 

Its thunder-splintered pinnacle ; 

Round many an insulated mass. 

The native bulwarks of the pass, 

Huge as the tower which builders vain 

Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. 



CANTO I. THE CHASE. II 

The rocky summits, split and rent, 

Formed turret, dome, or battlement, 

Or seemed fantastically set 200 

With cupola or minaret, 

Wild crests as pagod ever decked, 

Or mosque of Eastern architect. 

Nor were these, earth-born castles bare, 

Nor lacked they many a banner fair ; 

For, from their shivered brows displayed, 

Far o'er the unfathomable glade. 

All twinkling with the dewdrop sheen. 

The brier-rose fell in streamers green. 

And creeping shrubs of thousand dyes 210 

Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. 



XII. 

Boon nature scattered, free and wild. 
Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. 
Here eglantine embalmed the air. 
Hawthorn and hazel mingled there ; 
The primrose pale and violet flower 
Found in each clift a narrow bower ; 
Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, 
Emblems of punishment and pride. 
Grouped their dark hues with every stain 
The weather-beaten crags retain. 
With boughs that quaked at every breath, 
Gray birch and aspen wept beneath ; 
Aloft, the ash and warrior oak 
Cast anchor in the rifted rock ; 
And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung 
His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, 
Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, 
Hie boughs athwart the narrowed sky. 



12 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto i. 

Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, *3o 

Where glistening streamers waved and danced, 
The wanderer's eye could barely view 
The summer heaven's delicious blue ; 
So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
The scenery of a fairy dream. 

XIII. 

Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep 

A narrow inlet, still and deep, 

Affording scarce such breadth of brim 

As served the wild duck's brood to swim. 

Lost for a space, through thickets veering, 240 

But broader when again appearing. 

Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face 

Could on the dark-blue mirror trace ; 

And farther as the Hunter strayed, 

Still broader sweep its channels made. 

The shaggy mounds no longer stood, 

Emerging from entangled wood, 

But, wave-encircled, seemed to float, 

Like castle girdled with its moat ; 

Yet broader floods extending still 250 

Divide them from their parent hill, 

Till each, retiring, claims to be 

An islet in an inland sea. 

XIV. 

And now, to issue from the glen, 

No pathway meets the wanderer's ken. 

Unless he climb with footing nice 



A far-projecting precipice. 

The broom's tough roots h 

The hazel saplings lent their aid ; 



The broom's tough roots his ladder made, 



CANTO I. THE CHASE. 13 

And thus an airy point he won, 260 

Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 

One burnished slieet of Hving gold, 

Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled, 

In all her length far winding lay. 

With promontory, creek, and bay, 

And islands that, empurpled bright. 

Floated amid the liveher light. 

And mountains that like giants stand 

To sentinel enchanted land. 

High on the south, huge Benvenue 270 

Down to the lake in masses threw 

Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled. 

The fragments of an earlier world ; 

A wildering forest feathered o'er 

His ruined sides and summit hoar, 

While on the north, through middle air, 

Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. 



XV. 

From the steep promontory gazed 

The stranger, raptured and amazed. 

And, * What a scene were here,' he cried, 280 

' For princely pomp or churchman's pride ! 

On this bold brow, a lordly tower ; 

In that soft vale, a lady's bower ; 

On yonder meadow far away, 

The turrets of a cloister gray ; 

How blithely might the bugle-horn 

Chide on the lake the lingering morn ! 

How sweet at eve the lover's lute 

Chime when the groves were still and mute ! 

And when the midnight moon should lave 290 

Her forehead in the silver wave. 



14 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto t. 

How solemn on the ear would come 

The holy matins' distant hum, 

While the deep peal's commanding tone 

Should wake, in yonder islet lone, 

A sainted hermit from his cell, 

To drop a bead with every knell ! 

And bugle, lute, and bell, and all. 

Should each bewildered stranger call 

To friendly feast and lighted hall. 3ou 

XVI. 

^ Bhdie were it then to wander here ! 

But now — beshrew yon nimble deer — 

Like that same hermit's, thin and spare, 

The copse must give my evening fare ; 

Some mossy bank my couch must be. 

Some rustling oak my canopy. 

Yet pass we that ; the war and chase 

Give httle choice of resting-j^lace ; — 

A summer night in greenwood spent 

Were but to-morrow's merriment : 310 

But hosts may in these wilds abound, 

Such as are better missed than found ; 

To meet with Highland plunderers here 

Were worse than loss of steed or deer. — 

I am alone ; — my bugle -strain 

May call some straggler of the train ; 

Or, fall the worst that may betide, 

Ere now this falchion has been tried.* 

XVII. 

But scarce again his horn he wound. 

When lo ! forth starting at the sound, aao 

From underneath an aged oak 

That slanted from the islet rock, 



CANTO i. THE CHASE. 15 

A damsel guider of its way, 

A little skiff shot to the bay, 

That round the promontory steep 

Led its deep line in graceful sweep, 

Eddying, in almost viewless wave. 

The weeping willow twig to lave. 

And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, 

The beach of pebbles bright as snow. 330 

The boat had touched this silver strand 

Just as the Hunter left his stand. 

And stood concealed amid the brake. 

To view this Lady of the Lake. 

The maiden paused, as if again 

She thought to catch the distant strain. 

With head upraised, and look intent. 

And eye and ear attentive bent, 

And locks flung back, and lips apart. 

Like monument of Grecian art, 340 

In listening mood, she seemed to stand, 

The guardian Naiad of the strand. 

XVIII. 

And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace 

A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, 

Of finer form or lovelier face ! 

What though the sun, with ardent frown. 

Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown, — 

The sportive toil, which, short and light. 

Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, 

Served too in hastier swell to show as© 

Short glimpses of a breast of snow : 

What though no rule of courtly grace 

To measured mood had trained her pace, — 

A foot more light, a step more true, 

Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew ; 



1 6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto i. 

E'en the slight harebell raised its head, 

Elastic from her airy tread : 

What though upon her speech there hung 

The accents of the mountain tongue, — 

Those silver sounds, so soft, so dear, 36* 

The listener held his breath to hear ! 

XIX. 

A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid ; 

Her satin snood, her silken plaid, 

Her golden brooch, such birth betrayed. 

And seldom was a snood amid 

Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid. 

Whose glossy black to shame might bring 

The plumage of the raven's wing ; 

And seldom o'er a breast so fair 

Mantled a plaid with modest care, 370 

And never brooch the folds combined 

Above a heart more good and kind. 

Her kindness and her worth to spy, 

You need but gaze on Ellen's eye ; 

Not Katrine in her mirror blue 

Gives back the shaggy banks more true, 

Than every frQ,e-born glance confessed 

The guileless' movements of her breast ; 

Whether joy danced in her dark eye, 

Or woe or pity claimed a sigh, 380 

Or fihal love was glowing there, 

Or meek devotion poured a prayer, 

Or tale of injury called forth 

The indignant spirit of the North. 

One only passion unrevealed 

With maiden pride the maid concealed, 

Yet not less purely felt the flame ; — 

O, need I tell that passion's name ? 



CANTO I. THE CHASE. 17 



XX. 

Impatient of the silent horn, 

Now on the gale her voice was borne : — 390 

* Father ! ' she cried ; the rocks around 

Loved to prolong the gentle sound. 

Awhile she paused, no answer came ; — 

' Malcolm, was thine the blast ? ' the name 

Less resolutely uttered fell. 

The echoes could not catch the swell. 

*A stranger I,' the Huntsman said, 

Advancing from the hazel shade. 

The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar 

Pushed her light shallop from the shore, 400 

And when a space was gained between. 

Closer she drew her bosom's screen ; — 

So forth the startled swan would swing, 

So turn to prune his ruffled wing. 

Then safe, though fluttered and amazed, 

She paused, and on the stranger gazed. 

Not his the form, nor his the eye, 

That youthful maidens wont to fly. 



XXI. 

On his bold visage middle age 

Had slightly pressed its signet sage, 410 

Yet had not quenched the open truth 

And fiery vehemence of youth ; 

Forward and frolic glee was there. 

The will to do, the soul to dare, 

The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, 

Of hasty love or headlong ire. 

His limbs were cast in manly mould 

For hardy sports or contest bold ; 



1 8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto 1. 

And though in peaceful garb arrayed, 

And weaponless except his blade, 420 

His stately mien as well implied 

A high-born heart, a martial pride, 

As if a baron's crest he wore, 

And sheathed in armor trode the shore. 

Slighting the petty need he showed, 

He told of his benighted road ; 

His ready speech flowed fair and free. 

In phrase of gentlest courtesy, 

Yet seemed that tone and gesture bland 

Less used to sue than to command. 4.t«< 

XXII. 

Awhile the maid the stranger eyed, 

And, reassured, at length replied, 

That Highland halls were open still 

To wildered wanderers of the hill. 

' Nor think you unexpected come 

To yon lone isle, our desert home ; 

Before the heath had lost the dew, 

This morn, a couch was pulled for you ; 

On yonder mountain's purple head 

Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, 440 

And our broad nets have swept the mere, 

To furnish forth your evening cheer,' — 

* Now, by the rood, my lovely maid. 
Your courtesy has erred,' he said ; 

* No right have I to claim, misplaced, 
The welcome of expected guest. 

A wanderer, here by fortune tost, 

My way, my friends, my courser lost, 

I ne'er before, believe me, fair. 

Have ever drawn your mountain air, 4so 

Till on this lake's romantic strand 

I found a fay in fairy land ! ' — 



CANTO I. 



THE CHASE. 



19 








^^'4fr>'' '"--# 





THE SILVER STRAND, LOCH KATRINE. 



XXIII. 

'I well believe,' the maid replied, 

As her light skiff approached the side, — 

' I well believe, that ne'er before 

Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore ; 

But yet, as far as yesternight, 

Old Allan-bane foretold your plight, — 

A gray- haired sire, whose eye intent 

Was on the visioned future bent. 

He saw your steed, a dappled gray, 

Tie dead beneath the birchen way ; 



460 



20 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto 1. 

Painted exact your form and mien, 

Your hunting-suit of Lincoln green, 

That tasselled horn so gayly gilt, 

That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, 

That cap with heron plumage trim. 

And yon two hounds so dark and grim. 

He bade that all should ready be 

To grace a guest of fair degree ; 470 

But light I held his prophecy. 

And deemed it was my father's horn 

Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne.' 



xxrv. 

The stranger smiled : — ' Since to your home 

A destined errant-knight I come. 

Announced by prophet sooth and old, 

Doomed, doubtless, for achievement bold, 

I '11 lightly front each high emprise 

For one kind glance of those bright eyes. 

Permit me first the task to guide . 480 

Your fairy frigate o'er the tide.' 

The maid, with smile suppressed and sly, 

The toil unwonted saw him try ; 

For seldom, sure, if e'er before. 

His noble hand had grasped an oar : 

Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, 

And o'er the lake the shallop flew ; 

With heads erect and whimpering cry. 

The hounds behind their passage ply. 

Nor frequent does the bright oar break 490 

The darkening mirror of the lake, 

TJntil the rocky isle they reach. 

And moor their shallop on the beach. 



CANTO I. THE CHASE. 21 

XXV. 

The stranger viewed the shore around ; 

'T was all so close with copsewood bound, 

Nor track nor pathway might declare 

That human foot frequented there, 

Until the mountain maiden showed 

A clambering unsuspected road, 

That winded through the tangled screen, 500 

And opened on a narrow green. 

Where weeping birch and willow round 

With their long fibres swept the ground. 

Here, for retreat in dangerous hour. 

Some chief had framed a rustic bower. 

XXVI. 

It was a lodge of ample size. 

But strange of structure and device ; 

Of such materials as around 

The workman's hand had readiest found. 

Lopped of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, 5«» 

And by the hatchet rudely squared. 

To give the walls their destined height, 

The sturdy oak and ash unite ; 

While moss and clay and leaves combined 

To fence each crevice from the wind. 

The lighter pine-trees overhead 

Their slender length for rafters spread, 

And withered heath and rushes dry 

Supplied a russet canopy. 

Due westward, fronting to the green, 52° 

A rural portico was seen, 

Aloft on native pillars borne. 

Of mountain fir with bark unshorn, 

Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine 

The ivy and Idsean vine, 



2 2 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANTO l^ 

The clematis, the favored flower 

Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, 

And every hardy plant could bear 

Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. 

An instant in this porch she stayed, 530 

And gayly to the stranger said : 

*0n heaven and on thy lady call, 

And enter the enchanted hall ! ' 

XXVII. 

' My hope, my heaven, my trust must be. 

My gentle guide, in following thee ! ' — 

He crossed the threshold, — and a clang 

Of angry steel that instant rang. 

To his bold brow his spirit rushed. 

But soon for vain alarm he blushed, 

When on the floor he saw displayed, 540 

Cause of the din, a naked blade 

Dropped from the sheath, that careless flung 

Upon a stag's huge antlers swung ; 

For all around, the walls to grace, 

Hung trophies of the fight or chase : 

A target there, a bugle here, 

A battle-axe, a hunting-spear. 

And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, 

With the tusked trophies of the boar. 

Here grins the wolf as when he died, sso 

And there the wild-cat's brindled hide 

The frontlet of the elk adorns, 

Or mantles o'er the bison's horns ; 

Pennons and flags defaced and stained. 

That blackening streaks of blood retained, 

And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white, 

With otter's fur and seal's unite, 

In rude and uncouth tapestry all, 

To garnish forth the syh^an hall. 



CANTO I, THE CHASE, 23 



xxvni. 

The wondering stranger round him gazed, 560 

And next the fallen weapon raised : — 
Few were the arms whose sinewy strength 
Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. 
And as the brand he poised and swayed, 

* I never knew but one/ he said, 

' Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield 

A blade like this in battle-field.' 

She sighed, then smiled and took the word : 

* You see the guardian champion's sword ; 

As light it trembles in his hand 570 

As in my grasp a hazel wand : 

My sire's tall form might grace the part 

Of Ferragus or Ascabart, 

But in the absent giant's hold 

Are women now, and menials old.' 



XXIX. 

The mistress of the mansion came, 

Mature of age, a graceful dame. 

Whose easy step and stately port 

Had well become a princely court, 

To whom, though more than kindred knew, 580 

Young Ellen gave a mother's due. 

Meet welcome to her guest she made, 

And every courteous rite was paid 

That hospitality could claim. 

Though all unasked his birth and name. ~~ 

Such then the reverence to a guest. 

That fellest foe might join the feast. 

And from his deadhest foeman's dooi 

Unquestioned turn, the banquet o'er. 



24 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto t 

At length his rank the stranger names, 500 

' The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James ; 

Lord of a barren heritage, 

Which his brave sires, from age to age, 

By their good swords had held with toil ; 

His sire had fallen in such turmoil. 

And he, God wot, was forced to stand 

Oft for his right with blade in hand. 

This morning with Lord Moray's train 

He chased a stalwart stag in vain. 

Outstripped his comrades, missed the deer, 600 

Lost his good steed, and wandered here.' 

XXX. 

Fain would the Knight in turn require 

The name and state of Ellen's sire. 

Well showed the elder lady's mien 

That courts and cities she had seen ; 

Ellen, though more her looks displayed 

The simple grace of sylvan maid. 

In speech and gesture, form and face, 

Showed she was come of gentle race. 

'T were strange in ruder rank to find 610 

Such looks, such manners, and such mind. 

Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, 

Dame Margaret heard with silence grave ; 

Or Ellen, innocently gay, 

Turned all inquiry light away : — 

' Weird women we ! by dale and down 

We dwell, afar from tower and town. 

We stem the flood, we ride the blast, 

On wandering knights our spells we cast ; 

While viewless minstrels touch the string, 620 

'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing.' 

She sung, and still a harp unseen 

Filled up the symphony between. 



CANTO I. THE CHASE. 25 

XXXI. 

SONG. 

Soldier, rest ! thy warfare o'er, 

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking ; 
Dream of battled fields no more. 

Days of danger, nights of waking. 
In our isle's enchanted hall. 

Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, 
Fairy strains of music fall, 630 

Every sense in slumber dewing. 
Soldier, rest ! thy warfare o'er. 
Dream of fighting fields no more j 
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, 
Morn of toil, nor night of waking. 

' No rude sound shall reach thine ear, 

Armor's clang or war-steed champing. 
Trump nor pibroch summon here 

Mustering clan or squadron tramping. 
Yet the lark's shrill fife may come 640 

At the daybreak from the fallow. 
And the bittern sound his drum. 

Booming from the sedgy shallow. 
Ruder sounds shall none be near. 
Guards nor warders challenge here. 
Here 's no war-steed's neigh and champing. 
Shouting clans or squadrons stamping.' 

xxxn. 

She paused, — then, blushing, led the lay. 

To grace the stranger of the day. 

Her mellow notes awhile prolong 650 

The cadence of the flowing song, 

Till to her lips in measured frame 

The minstrel verse spontaneous came. 



26 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, canto r. 



SONG CONTINUED. 

* Huntsman, rest ! thy chase is done ; 

While our slumbrous spells assail ye, 
Dream not, with the rising sun, 

Bugles here shall sound reveille. 
Sleep ! the deer is in his den ; 

Sleep ! thy hounds are by thee lying ; 
Sleep ! nor dream in yonder glen 660 

How thy gallant steed lay dying. 
Huntsman, rest ! thy chase is done ; 
Think not of the rising sun, 
For at dawning to assail ye 
Here no bugles sound reveille.' 



XXXIII. 

The hall was cleared, — the stranger's bed. 

Was there of mountain heather spread, 

Where oft a hundred guests had lain. 

And dreamed their forest sports again. 

But vainly did the heath- flower shed 670 

Its moorland fragrance round his head ; 

Not Ellen's spell had lulled to rest 

The fever of his troubled breast. 

In broken dreams the image rose 

Of varied perils, pains, and woes : 

His steed now flounders in the brake, 

Now sinks his barge upon the lake ; 

Now leader of a broken host, 

His standard falls, his honor 's lost. 

Then, — from my couch may heavenly might 680 

Chase that worst phantom of the night ! — 

Again returned the scenes of youth, 

Of confident, undoubting truth ; 



CANTO I. THE CHASE. 27 

Again his soul he interchanged 

With friends whose hearts were long estranged. 

They come, in dim procession led, 

The cold, the faithless, and the dead ; 

As warm each hand, each brow as gay. 

As if they parted yesterday. 

And doubt distracts him at the view, — 699 

O were his senses false or true ? 

Dreamed he of death or broken vow, 

Or is it all a vision now ? 

XXXIV. 

At length, with Ellen in a grove 

He seemed to walk and speak of love ) 

She listened with a blush and sigh, 

His suit was warm, his hopes were high. 

He sought her yielded hand to clasp, 

And a cold gauntlet met his grasp : 

The phantom's sex was changed and gone, 700 

Upon its head a helmet shone ; 

Slowly enlarged to giant size. 

With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, 

The grisly visage, stern and hoar, 

To Ellen still a likeness bore. — 

He woke, and, panting with affright. 

Recalled, the vision of the night. 

The hearth's decaying brands were red, 

And deep and dusky lustre shed, 

Half showing, half concealing, all 710 

The uncouth trophies of the hall. 

Mid those the stranger fixed his eye 

Where that huge falchion hung on high. 

And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, 

Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along. 

Until, the giddy whirl to cure. 

He rose and sought the moonshine pure. 



28 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO 



XXXV. 

The wild rose, eglantine, and broom 

Wasted around their rich perfume ; 

The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm ; 720 

The aspens slept beneath the calm ; 

The silver light, with quivering glance, 

Played on the water's still expanse, — 

Wild were the heart whose passion's sway 

Could rage beneath the sober ray ! 

He felt its calm, that warrior guest. 

While thus he communed with his breast : — 

'■ Why is it, at each turn I trace 

Some memory of that exiled race ? 

Can I not mountain maiden spy, 730 

But she must bear the Douglas eye ? 

Can I not view a Highland brand, 

But it must match the Douglas hand? 

Can I not frame a fevered dream. 

But still the Douglas is the theme ? 

I '11 dream no more, — by manly mind 

Not even in sleep is will resigned. 

My midnight orisons said o'er, 

I '11 turn to rest, and dream no more.' 

His midnight orisons he told, 74* 

A prayer with every bead of gold, 

Consigned to heaven his cares and woes, 

And sunk in undisturbed repose, 

Until the heath-cock shrilly crew, 

And morning dawned on Benvenue. 




LOCH LOMOND AND BEN LOMOND, FROM BALLOCH. 



CANTO SECOND. 



THE ISLAND. 



At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, 

'T is morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, 
All Nature's children feel the matin spring 

Of life reviving, with reviving day ; 
And while yon little bark glides down the bay, . 

Wafting the stranger on his way again, 
Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray, 

And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain, 
Mixed with the sounding harp, O white-haired Allan-bane ! 



30 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 

II. 

SONG. 

* Not faster yonder rowers' might lo 

Flings from their oars the spray, 
Not faster yonder rippling bright, 
That tracks the shallop's course in light, 

Melts in the lake away, 
Than men from memory erase 
The benefits of former days ; 
Then, stranger, go ! good speed the while, 
Nor think again of the lonely isle. 

' High place to thee in royal court. 

High place in battled Hne, 20 

Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport ! 
Where beauty sees the brave resort. 

The honored meed be thine ! 
True be thy sword, thy friend sincere, 
Thy lady constant, kind, and dear. 
And lost in love's and friendship's smile 
Be memory of the lonely isle ! 

III. 

SONG CONTINUED. 

* But if beneath yon southern sky 

A plaided stranger roam. 
Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, 30 

And sunken cheek and heavy eye, 

Pine for his Highland home ; 
Then, warrior, then be thine to show 
The care that soothes a wanderer's woe ; 
Remember then thy hap erewhile, 
A stranger in the lonely isle. 



CANTO II. THE ISLAND. 3I 

' Or if on life's uncertain main 

Mishap shall mar thy sail ; 
If faithful, wise, and brave in vain, 
Woe, want, and exile thou sustain 40 

Beneath the fickle gale ; 
Waste not a sigh on fortune changed, 
On thankless courts, or friends estranged. 
But come where kindred worth shall smile, 
To greet thee in the lonely isle.' 

rv. 

As died the sounds upon the tide. 

The shallop reached the mainland side, 

And ere his onward way he took, 

The stranger cast a lingering look, 

Where easily his eye might reach . 50 

The Harper on the islet beach. 

Reclined against a blighted tree. 

As wasted, gray, and worn as he. 

To minstrel meditation given. 

His reverend brow was raised to heaven, 

As from the rising sun to claim 

A sparkle of inspiring flame. 

His hand, reclined upon the wire. 

Seemed watching the awakening fire ; 

So still he sat as those who wait 60 

Till judgment speak the doom of fate ; 

So still, as if no breeze might dare 

To lift one lock of hoary hair ; 

So still, as life itself were fled 

In the last sound his harp had sped. 

V. 

Upon a rock with lichens wild, 
Beside him Ellen sat and smiled. — 



32 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 

Smiled she to see the stately drake 

Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, 

While her vexed spaniel from the beach r« 

Bayed at the prize beyond his reach? 

Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows, 

Why deepened on her cheek the rose ? -^ 

Forgive, forgive. Fidelity ! 

Perchance the maiden smiled to see 

Yon parting lingerer wave adieu, 

And stop and turn to wave anew ; 

And, lovely ladies, ere your ire 

Condemn the heroine of my lyre, 

Show me the fair would scorn to spy 80 

And prize such conquest of her eye 1 

VI. 

While yet he loitered on the spot, 

It seemed as Ellen marked him not ; 

But when he turned him to the glade, 

One courteous parting sign she made ; 

And after, oft the knight would say, 

That not when prize of festal day 

Was dealt him by the brightest fair 

Who e'er wore jewel in her hair, 

So highly did his bosom swell 90 

As at that simple mute farewell. 

Now with a trusty mountain-guide. 

And his dark stag-hounds .by his side, 

He parts, — the maid, unconscious still. 

Watched him wind slowly round the hill ; 

But when his stately form was hid. 

The guardian in her bosom chid, — 

* Thy Malcolm ! vain and selfish maid ! ' 

'T was thus upbraiding conscience said, — 

' Not so had Malcolm idly hung loa 

On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue ; 



CANTO 11. THE ISLAND. l'^ 

Not SO had Malcolm strained his eye 

Another step than thine to spy.' — 

' Wake, Allan-bane,' aloud she cried 

To the old minstrel by her side, — 

' Arouse thee from thy moody dream ! 

I '11 give thy harp heroic theme, 

And warm thee with a noble name ; 

Pour forth the glory of the Graeme ! ' 

Scarce from her lip the word had rushed, no 

When deep the conscious maiden blushed ; 

For of his clan, in hall and bower. 

Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower. 



VII. 

The minstrel waked his harp, — three times 
Arose the well-known m^artial chimes. 
And thrice their high heroic pride 
In melancholy murmurs died. 
* Vainly thou bidst, O noble maid,' 
Clasping his withered hands, he said, 
' Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain, 120 

Though all unwont to bid in vain. 
Alas ! than mine a mightier hand 
Has tuned my harp, my strings has spanned ! 
I touch the chords of joy, but low 
And mournful answer notes of woe ; 
And the proud march which victors tread 
Sinks in the wailing for the dead. 
O, well for me, if mine alone 
That dirge's deep prophetic tone ! 
If, as my tuneful fatiiers said, 130 

This harp, which erst Saint Modan swayed, 
Can thus its master's fate foretell. 
Then welcome be the minstrel's knell \ 
3 



34 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 



VIII. 

^ But ah ! dear lady, thus it sighed, 

The eve thy sainted mother died ; 

And such the sounds which, while I strove 

To wake a lay of war or love, 

Came marring all the festal mirth. 

Appalling me who gave them birth. 

And, disobedient to my call, 140 

Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered hall. 

Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. 

Were exiled from their native heaven. — 

O ! if yet worse mishap and woe 

My master's house must undergo. 

Or aught but weal to Ellen fair 

Brood in these accents of despair, 

No future bard, sad Harp ! shall fling 

Triumph or rapture from thy string ; 

One short, one final strain shall flow, 150 

Fraught with unutterable woe. 

Then shivered shall thy fragments lie, 

Thy master cast him down and die ! ' 

IX. 

Soothing she answered him : ' Assuage, 

Mine honored friend, the fears of age ; 

All melodies to thee are known 

That harp has rung or pipe has blown, 

In Lowland vale or ELighland glen. 

From Tweed to Spey — what marvel, then, 

At times unbidden notes should rise, 160 

Confusedly bound in memory's ties, 

Entangling, as they rush along, 

The war-march with the funeral song? — 



CAiNTO II. THE ISLAND. 35 

Small ground is now for boding fear ; 

Obscure, but safe, we rest us here. 

My sire, in native virtue great, 

Resigning lordship, lands, and state, 

Not then to fortune more resigned 

Than yonder oak might give the wind ; 

The graceful foliage storms may reave, 170 

The noble stem they cannot grieve. 

For me' — she stooped, and, looking round. 

Plucked a blue harebell from the ground, — 

' For me, whose memory scarce conveys 

An image of more splendid days. 

This little flower that loves the lea 

May well my simple emblem be ; 

It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose 

That in the King's own garden grows ; 

And when I place it in my hair, 180 

Allan, a bard is bound to swear 

He ne'er saw coronet so fair.' 

Then playfully the chaplet wild 

She wreathed in her dark locks, and smiled. 

X. 

Her smile, her speech, with winning sway. 

Wiled the old Harper's mood away. 

With such a look as hermits throw, 

When angels stoop to soothe their woe. 

He gazed, till fond regret and pride 

Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied : 19© 

* Loveliest and best ! thou httle know'st 

The rank, the honors, thou hast lost ! 

O, might I live to see thee grace. 

In Scotland's court, thy birthright place, 

To see my favorite's step advance 

The lightest in the courtly dance, 



36 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 

The cause of every gallant's sigh, 

And leading star of every eye, 

And theme of every minstrel's art, 

The Lady of the Bleeding Heart ! ' 200 

XI. 

'Fair dreams are these,' the maiden cried, — 

Light was her accent, yet she sighed, — 

* Yet is this mossy rock to me 

Worth splendid chair and canopy ; 

Nor would my footstep spring more gay 

In courtly dance than blithe strathspey, 

Nor half so pleased mine ear incHne 

To royal minstrel's lay as thine. 

And then for suitors proud and high. 

To bend before my conquering eye, — 210 

Thou, flattering bard ! thyself wilt say, 

That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway. 

The Saxon scourge, Clan-Alpine's pride, 

The terror of Loch Lomond's side, 

Would, at my suit, thou know'st, delay 

A Lennox foray — for a day.' — 

XII. 

The ancient bard her glee repressed : 

' 111 hast thou chosen theme for jest ! 

For who, through all this western wild. 

Named Black Sir Roderick e'er, and smiled? 220 

In Holy-Rood a knight he slew ; 

I saw, when back the dirk he drew. 

Courtiers give place before the stride 

Of the undaunted homicide ; 

And since, though outlawed, hath his hand 

Full sternly kept his mountain land. 



CANTO II. THE ISLAND. $7 

Who else dared give — ah ! woe the day, 

That I such hated truth should say ! — 

The Douglas, like a stricken deer. 

Disowned by every noble peer, 23a 

Even the rude refuge we have here ? 

Alas, this wild marauding Chief 

Alone might hazard our relief, 

And now thy maiden charms expand. 

Looks for his guerdon in thy hand ; 

Full soon may dispensation sought, 

To back his suit, from Rome be brought. 

Then, though an exile on the hill. 

Thy father, as the Douglas, still 

Be held in reverence and fear ; 240 

And though to Roderick thou 'rt so dear 

That thou mightst guide with silken thread. 

Slave of thy will, this chieftain dread. 

Yet, O loved maid, thy mirth refrain ! 

Thy hand is on a lion's mane.' — 



XIII. 

' Minstrel,' the maid replied, and high 

Her father's soul glanced from her eye, 

' My debts to Roderick's house I know : 

All that a mother could bestow 

To Lady Margaret's care I owe, ?s». 

Since first an orphan in the wild 

She sorrowed o'er her sister's child ; 

To her brave chieftain son, from ire 

Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, 

A deeper, holier debt is owed ; 

And, could I pay it with my blood, 

Allan ! Sir Roderick should command 

My blood, my life, — but not my hand. 



38 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 

Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell 

A votaress in Maronnan's cell ; 260 

Rather through realms beyond the sea, 

Seeking the world's cold charity, 

Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, 

And ne'er the name of Douglas heard, 

An outcast pilgrim will she rove, 

Than wed the man she cannot love. 



XIV. 

' Thou shak'st, good friend, thy tresses gray, — 

That pleading look, what can it say 

But what I own ? — I grant him brave. 

But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave ; 270 

And generous, — save vindictive mood 

Or jealous transport chafe his blood : 

I grant him true to friendly band. 

As his claymore is to his hand ; 

But O ! that very blade of steel 

More mercy for a foe would feel : 

I grant him liberal, to fling 

Among his clan the wealth they bring. 

When back by lake and glen they wind, 

And in the Dowland leave behind, 280 

Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, 

A mass of ashes slaked with blood. 

The hand that for my father fought 

I honor, as his daughter ought ; 

But can I clasp it reeking red 

From peasants slaughtered in their shed? 

No ! wildly while his virtues gleam. 

They make his passions darker seem, 

And flash along his spirit high. 

Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. 390 



CANTO II. 



THE ISLAND. 



39 




""trx^-^ 



^g^P^i*^ 



BRACKLINN FALLS, 



While yet a child, — and children know, 
Instinctive taught, the friend and foe, — 
I shuddered at his brow of gloom, 
His shadowy plaid and sable plume ; 
A maiden grown, I ill could bear 
His haughty mien and lordly air : 
But, if thou join'st a suitor's claim, 
In serious mood, to Roderick's name, 



40 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 

I thrill with anguish ! or, if e'er 

A Douglas knew the word, with fear. 300 

To change such odious theme were best, — 

What think'st thou of our stranger guest ? ' — 



XV. 

' What think I of him ? — woe the while 

That brought such wanderer to our isle ! 

Thy father's battle-brand, of yore 

For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, 

What time he leagued, no longer foes, 

His Border spears with Hotspur's bows. 

Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow 

The footstep of a secret foe. 310 

If courtly spy hath harbored here. 

What may we for the Douglas fear ? 

What for this island, deemed of old 

Clan- Alpine's last and surest hold? 

If neither spy nor foe, I pray 

What yet may jealous Roderick say? — 

Nay, wave not thy disdainful head ! 

Bethink thee of the discord dread 

That kindled when at Beltane game 

Thou ledst the dance with Malcolm Graeme ; 320 

Still, though thy sire the peace renewed, 

Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud : 

Beware ! — But hark ! what sounds are these ? 

My dull ears catch no faltering breeze. 

No weeping birch nor aspens wake, 

Nor breath is dimpling in the lake ; 

Still is the canna's hoary beard. 

Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard — 

And hark again ! some pipe of war 

Sends the bold pibroch from afar.' 330 



CAxNTO n. THE ISLAND. 41 

XVI. 

Far up the lengthened lake were spied 

Four darkening specks upon the tide, 

That, slow enlarging on the view, 

Four manned and masted barges grew, 

And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, 

Steered full upon the lonely isle ; 

The point of Brianchoil they passed, 

And, to the windward as they cast. 

Against the sun they gave to shine 

The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine. 340 

Nearer and nearer as they bear, 

Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. 

Now might you see the tartans brave. 

And plaids and plumage dance and wave : 

Now see the bonnets sink and rise, 

As his tough oar the rower plies ; 

See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, 

The wave ascending into smoke ; 

See the proud pipers on the bow. 

And mark the gaudy streamers flow 35«» 

From their loud chanters down, and sweep 

The furrowed bosom of the deep. 

As, rushing through the lake amain. 

They plied the ancient Highland strain. 



XVII. 

Ever, as on they bore, more loud 

And louder rung the pibroch proud. 

At first the sounds, by distance tame, 

Mellowed along the waters came, 

And, lingering long by cape and bay. 

Wailed every harsher note away, 3^9 



42 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto li 

Then bursting bolder on the ear, 

The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear, 

Those thrilling sounds that call the might 

Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. 

Thick beat the rapid notes, as when 

The mustering hundreds shake the glen, 

And hurrying at the signal dread. 

The battered earth returns their tread. 

Then prelude hght, of liveher tone. 

Expressed their merry marching on, 370 

Ere peal of closing battle rose. 

With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows ; 

And mimic din of stroke and ward. 

As broadsword upon target jarred ; 

And groaning pause, ere yet again, 

Condensed, the battle yelled amain : 

The rapid charge, the rallying shout, 

Retreat borne headlong into rout, 

And bursts of triumph, to declare 

Clan- Alpine's conquest — all were there. 380 

Nor ended thus the strain, but slow 

Sunk in a moan prolonged and low. 

And changed the conquering clarion swell 

For wild lament o'er those that fell. 



XVIII. 

The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill 

Were busy with their echoes still ; 

And, when they slept, a vocal strain 

Bade their hoarse chorus wake again. 

While loud a hundred clansmen raise 

Their voices in their Chieftain's praise. 39* 

Each boatman, bending to his oar. 

With measured sweep the burden bore, 



CANTO 11. THE ISLAND. 43- 

In such wild cadence as the breeze 
Makes through December's leafless trees. 
The chorus first could Allan know, 
' Roderick Vich Alpine, ho ! iro ! ' 
And near, and nearer as they rowed, 
Distinct the martial ditty flowed. 

XIX. 
BOAT SONG. 

Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances ! 

Honored and blessed be the ever-green Pine ! 400 

Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, 
Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line ! 

Heaven send it happy dew, 

Earth lend it sap anew, 
Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow, 

While every Highland glen 

Sends our shout back again, 
' Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! ' 

Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, 

Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade ; 410 

When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the mountain. 
The more shall Clan- Alpine exult in her shade. 

Moored in the rifted rock. 

Proof to the tempest's shock. 
Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow ; 

Menteith and Breadalbane, then. 

Echo his praise again, 
' Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! ' 

XX. 

Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, 

And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied ; 420 

Glen Luss and Ross- dhu, they are smoking in ruin. 
And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. 



44 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 

Widow and Saxon maid 
Long shall lament our raid, 
Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe ; 
Lennox and Leven-glen 
Shake when they hear again, 

* Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! ' 

Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands ! 

Stretch to your oars for the ever-green Pine ! 430 

O that the rosebud that graces yon islands 

Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine ! 
O that some seedling gem. 
Worthy such noble stem, 
Honored and blessed in their shadow might grow ! 
Loud should Clan-Alpine then 
. Ring from her deepmost glen, 

* Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe 1 ' 

XXI. 

With all her joyful female band 

Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. 440 

Loose on the breeze their tresses flew, 

And high their snowy arms they threw. 

As echoing back with shrill acclaim, 

And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name ; 

While, prompt to please, with mother's art, 

The darling passion of his heart. 

The Dame called Ellen to the strand. 

To greet her kinsman ere he land : 

* Come, loiterer, come ! a Douglas thou, 

And shun to wreathe a victor's brow ? ' 45° 

Reluctantly and slow, the maid 

The unwelcome summoning obeyed. 

And when a distant bugle rung. 

In the mid- path aside she sprung : — 



CANTO II. THE ISLAND, 45 

' List, Allan-bane ! From mainland cast 

I hear my father's signal blast. 

Be ours/ she cried, ' the skiff to guide. 

And waft him from the mountain-side.' 

Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright. 

She darted to her shallop light, 460 

And, eagerly while Roderick scanned. 

For her dear form, his mother's band, 

The islet far behind her lay. 

And she had landed in the bay. 

XXII. 

Some feelings are to mortals given 

With less of earth in them than heaven ; 

And if there be a human tear 

From passion's dross refined and clear, 

A tear so limpid and so meek 

It would not stain an angel's cheek, 470 

'Tis that which pious fathers shed 

Upon a duteous daughter's head ! 

And as the Douglas to his breast 

His darling Ellen closely pressed, 

Such holy drops her tresses steeped, 

Though 't was an hero's eye that weeped. 

Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue 

Her filial welcomes crowded hung. 

Marked she that fear — affection's proof — 

Still held a graceful youth aloof ; 4?o 

No ! not till Douglas named his name. 

Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. 

XXIII. 

Allan, with wistful look the while, 
Marked Roderick landing on the isle ; 
His master piteously he eyed, 
Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride, 



46 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 

Then dashed with hasty hand away 

From his dimmed eye the gathering spray ; 

And Douglas, as his hand he laid 

On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said : 490 

' Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy 

In my poor follower's glistening eye ? 

I '11 tell thee : — he recalls the day 

When in my praise he led the lay 

O'er the arched gate of Bothwell proud, 

While many a minstrel answered loud, 

When Percy's Norman pennon, won 

In bloody field, before me shone, 

And twice ten knights, the least a name 

As mighty as yon Chief may claim, 500 

Gracing my pomp, behind me came. 

Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud 

Was I of all that marshalled crowd, 

Though the waned crescent owned my might, 

And in my train trooped lord and knight, 

Though Blant)Te hymned her holiest lays, 

And Bothwell's bards flung back my praise, 

As when this old man's silent tear. 

And this poor maid's affection dear, 

A welcome give more kind and true 510 

Than aught my better fortunes knew. 

Forgive, my friend, a father's boast, — - 

O, it out-beggars all I lost ! ' 

XXIV. 

Delightful praise ! — like summer rose, 
That brighter in the dew-drop glows. 
The bashful maiden's cheek appeared. 
For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard. 
The flush of shame-faced joy to hide. 
The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide ; 



CANTO IT. THE ISLAND. 47 

The loved caresses of the maid 520 

The dogs with crouch and whimper paid ; 
And, at her whistle, on her hand 
The falcon took his favorite stand, 
Closed his dark wing, relaxed his eye, 
Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. 
And, trust, while in such guise she stood, 
Like fabled Goddess of the wood, 
• That if a father's partial thought 
O'erweighed her worth and beauty aught. 
Well might the lover's judgment fail 530 

To balance with a juster scale ; 
For with each secret glance he stole. 
The fond enthusiast sent his soul. 



XXV. 

Of stature fair, and slender frame. 

But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. 

The belted plaid and tartan hose • 

Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose j 

His flaxen hair, of sunny hue, 

Curled closely round his bonnet blue. 

Trained to the chase, his eagle eye 540 

The ptarmigan in snow could spy ; 

Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath. 

He knew, through Lennox and Menteith ; 

Vain was the bound of dark-brown doe 

When Malcolm bent his sounding bow. 

And scarce that doe, though winged with fear. 

Outstripped in speed the mountaineer : 

Right up Ben Lomond could he press, 

And not a sob his toil confess. 

His form accorded with a mind ss» 

Lively and ardent, frank and kind \ 



48 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii 

A blither heart, till Ellen came, 

Did never love nor sorrow tame ; 

It danced as lightsome in his breast 

As played the feather on his crest. 

Yet friends, who nearest knew the youth, 

His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth, 

And bards, who saw his features bold 

When kindled by the tales of old, 

Said, were that youth to manhood grown, • 560 

Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown 

Be foremost voiced by mountain fame. 

But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme. 

XXVI. 

Now back they wend their watery way. 

And, ^ O my sire ! ' did Ellen say, 

' Why urge thy chase so far astray ? 

And why so late returned ? And why ' — 

The rest was in her speaking eye. 

* My child, the chase I follow far, 

'T is mimicry of noble war ; 570 

And with that gallant pastime reft 

Were all of Douglas I have left. 

I met young Malcolm as I strayed 

Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade ; 

Nor strayed I safe, for all around 

Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground. 

This youth, though still a royal ward. 

Risked life and land to be my guard. 

And through the passes of the wood 

Guided my steps, not unpursued ; 5«o 

And Roderick shall his welcome make, 

Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. 

Then must he seek Strath -Endrick glen, 

Nor peril aught for me again.' 



CANTO II. THE ISLAND. ^ 49 

XXVII. 

Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, 

Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme, 

Yet, not in action, word, or eye. 

Failed aught in hospitality. 

In talk and sport they whiled away 

The morning of that summer day ; sgo 

But at high noon a courier light 

Held secret parley with the knight, 

Whose moody aspect soon declared 

That evil were the news he heard. 

Deep thought seemed toiling in his head ; 

Yet was the evening banquet made 

Ere he assembled round the flame 

His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, 

And Ellen too ; then cast around 

His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, 600 

As studying phrase that might avail 

Best to convey unpleasant tale. 

Long with his dagger's hilt he played, 

Then raised his haughty brow, and said : — 

XXVIII. 

' Short be my speech ; — nor time affords, 
Nor my plain temper, glozing words. 
Kinsman and father, — if such name 
Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim ; 
Mine honored mother ; — Ellen, — why, 
My cousinj turn away thine eye ? — 610 

And Graeme, in whom I hope to know 
Full soon a noble friend or foe. 
When age shall give thee thy command. 
And leading in thy native land, — 
4 



5^ THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO II. 






jt, FROM ELLEN S ISLE. 



List all ! — The King's vindictive pride 

Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, 

Where chiefs, with hound and hawk who came 

To share their monarch's sylvan game, 

Themselves in bloody toils were snared. 

And when the banquet they prepai'ed, 620 

And wide their loyal portals flung, 

O'er their own gateway struggling hung. 

Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead. 

From Yarrow braes and banks of Tweed, 

Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, 

And from the silver Teviot's side ; 

The dales, where martial clans did ride, 

Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. 

This tyrant of the Scottish throne. 

So faithless and so ruthless known, 630 

Now hither comes ; his end the same, 

The same pretext of sylvan game. 



dANto li. THE ISLAND. 5? 

What grace for Highland Chiefs, judge ye 

By fate of Border chivalry. 

Yet more ; amid Glenfinlas* green, 

Douglas, thy stately form was seen. 

This by espial sure I know : 

Your counsel in the streight I show.' 



XXIX. 

Ellen and Margaret fearfully 

Sought comfort in each other's eye, 640 

Then turned their ghastly look, each one. 

This to her sire, that to her son. 

The hasty color went and came 

In the bold cheek of Malcolm Graeme, 

But from his glance it well appeared 

'T was but for Ellen that he feared ; 

While, sorrowful, but undismayed. 

The Douglas thus his counsel said : 

' Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar. 

It may but thunder and pass o'er ; S50 

Nor will I here remain an hour, 

To draw the lightning on thy bower ; 

For well thou know'st, at this gray head 

The royal bolt were fiercest sped. 

For thee, who, at thy King's command, 

Canst aid him with a gallant band. 

Submission, homage, humbled pride, 

Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. 

Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, 

Ellen and I will seek apart 660 

The refuge of some forest cell, 

There, like the hunted quarry, dwell. 

Till on the mountain and the moor 

The stern pursuit be passed and o'er,' — 



$2 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, canto ii. 

XXX. 

* No, by mine honor/ Roderick said, 

' So help me Heaven, and my good blade ! 

No, never ! Blasted be yon Pine, 

My father's ancient crest and mine. 

If from its shade in danger part 

The lineage of the Bleeding Heart ! 670 

Hear my blunt speech : grant me this maid 

To wife, thy counsel to mine aid ; 

To Douglas, leagued with Roderick Dhu, 

Will friends and alHes flock enow ; 

Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, 

Will bind to us each Western Chief. 

When the loud pipes my bridal tell, 

The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, 

The guards shall start in Stirling's porch ; 

And when I light the nuptial torch, 680 

A thousand villages in flames 

Shall scare the slumbers of King James ! — 

Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, 

And, mother, cease these signs, I pray ; 

I meant not all my heat might say. — 

Small need of inroad or of fight. 

When the sage Douglas may unite 

Each mountain clan in friendly band, 

To guard the passes of their land. 

Till the foiled King from pathless glen 69* 

Shall bootless turn him home again.' 

XXXI. 

There are who have, at midnight hour, 
In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, 
And, on the verge that beetled o'er 
The ocean tide's incessant roar, 



CANTO ri. THE ISLAND. 53 

Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream, 

Till wakened by the morning beam ; 

When, dazzled by the eastern glow, 

Such startler cast his glance below. 

And saw unmeasured depth around, 700 

And heard unintermitted sound. 

And thought the battled fence so frail, 

It waved like cobweb in the gale ; — 

Amid his senses' giddy wheel. 

Did he not desperate impulse feel, 

Headlong to plunge himself below. 

And meet the worst his fears foreshow ? — 

Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound. 

As sudden ruin yawned around. 

By crossing terrors wildly tossed, 710 

Still for the Douglas fearing most, 

Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, 

To buy his safety with her hand. 



XXXII. 

Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy 

In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, 

And eager rose to speak, — but ere 

His tongue could hurry forth his fear. 

Had Douglas marked the hectic strife. 

Where death seemed combating with life ; 

For to her cheek, in feverish flood, 720 

One instant rushed the throbbing blood. 

Then ebbing back, with sudden sway. 

Left its domain as wan as clay. 

'• Roderick, enough ! enough ! ' he cried, 

' My daughter cannot be thy bride ; 

Not that the blush to wooer dear. 

Nor paleness that of maiden fear. 



54 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii. 

It may not be, — forgive her, Chief, 

Nor hazard aught for our relief. 

Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er 730 

Will level a rebellious spear. 

'T was I that taught his youthful hand 

To rein a steed and wield a brand ; 

I see him yet, the princely boy ! 

Not Ellen more my pride and joy ; 

I love him still, despite my wrongs 

By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues. 

O, seek the grace you well may find. 

Without a cause to mine combined ! ' 



XXXIII. 

Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode ; 740 

The waving of his tartans broad. 

And darkened brow, where wounded pride 

With ire and disappointment vied. 

Seemed, by the torch's gloomy light, 

i^ike the ill Demon of the night. 

Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway 

Upon the nighted pilgrim's way : 

But, unrequited Love ! thy dart 

Plunged deepest its envenomed smart, 

And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, 750 

At length the hand of Douglas wrung. 

While eyes that mocked at tears before 

With bitter drops were running o'er. 

The death-pangs of long-cherished hope 

Scarce in that ample breast had scope. 

But, struggling with his spirit proud. 

Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud, 

While every sob — so mute were all — - 

Was heard distinctly through the hall. 



CANTO II. THE ISLAND. 55 

The son's despair, the mother's look, 760 

111 might the gentle Ellen brook ; 
She rose, and to her side there came. 
To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. 



XXXIV. 

Then Roderick from the Douglas broke — 

As flashes flame through sable smoke, 

Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low. 

To one broad blaze of ruddy glow, 

So the deep anguish of despair 

Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. 

With stalwart grasp his hand he laid 770 

On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid : 

' Back, beardless boy ! ' he sternly said, 

' Back, minion ! holdst thou thus at naught 

The lesson I so lately taught? 

This roof, the Douglas, and that maid, ' 

Thank thou for punishment delayed.' 

Eager as greyhound on his game. 

Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. 

* Perish my name, if aught afford 

Its Chieftain safety save his sword ! ' 780 

Thus as they strove their desperate hand 

Griped to the dagger or the brand. 

And death had been — but Douglas rose. 

And thrust between the struggling foes 

His giant strength : — ' Chieftains, forego ! 

I hold the first who strikes my foe. — 

Madmen, forbear your frantic jar ! 

What ! is the Douglas fallen so far, 

His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil 

Of such dishonorable broil ? ' 790 



56 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto ii 

Sullen and slowly they unclasp, 

As' struck with shame, their desperate grasp. 

And each upon his rival glared, 

With foot advanced and blade half bared. 



XXXV. 

Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, 

Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, 

And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, 

As faltered through terrific dream. 

Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword, 

And veiled his wrath in scornful word : 800 

' Rest safe till morning ; pity 't were 

Such cheek should feel the midnight air ! 

Then mayst thou to James Stuart tell, 

Roderick will keep the lake and fell, 

Nor lackey with his freeborn clan 

The pageant pomp of earthly man. 

More would he of Clan -Alpine know, 

Thou canst our strength and passes show. — 

Malise, what ho ! ' — his henchman came : 

' Give our safe-conduct to the Graeme.' 810 

Young Malcolm answered, calm and bold : 

' Fear nothing for thy favorite hold ; 

The spot an angel deigned to grace 

Is blessed, though robbers haunt the place. 

Thy churlish courtesy for those 

Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. 

As safe to me the mountain way 

At midnight as in blaze of day. 

Though with his boldest at his back 

Even Roderick Dhu beset the track. — Sao 

Brave Douglas, — lovely Ellen, — nay, 

Naught here of parting will I say, 



CANTO II. • THE ISLAND. 57 

Earth does not hold a lonesome glen 
So secret but we meet again. — 
Chieftain ! we too shall find an hour,' — - 
He said, and left the sylvan bower. 

XXXVI. 

Old Allan followed to the strand — 

Such was the Douglas's command — 

And anxious told, how, on the morn, 

The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, 830 

The Fiery Cross should circle o'er 

Dale, glen, and valley, down and moor. 

Much were the peril to the Graeme 

From those who to the signal came ; 

Far up the lake 't were safest land, 

Himself would row him to the strand. 

He gave his counsel to the wind, 

While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind, 

Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled, 

His ample plaid in tightened fold, 840 

And stripped his limbs to such array 

As best might suit the watery way, — 

XXXVII. 

Then spoke abrupt : ' Farewell to thee, 

Pattern of old fidelity ! ' 

The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressed, — 

' O, could I point a place of rest ! 

My sovereign holds in ward my land, 

My uncle leads my vassal band ; 

To tame his foes, his friends to aid, 

Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. 8go 

Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme 

Who loves the chieftain of his name, 



S8 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO II. 



Not long shall honored Douglas dwell 

Like hunted stag in mountain cell ; 

Nor, ere yon pride-swollen robber dare, — 

I may not give the rest to air ! 

Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, 

Not the poor service of a boat, 

To waft me to yon mountain-side.' 

Then plunged he in the flashing tide. 8&o 

Bold o'er the flood his head he bore. 

And stoutly steered him from the shore ; 

And Allan strained his anxious eye, 

Far mid the lake his form to spy, 

Darkening across each puny wave. 

To which the moon her silver gave. 

Fast as the cormorant could skim, 

The swimmer plied each active limb ; 

Then landing in the moonlight dell. 

Loud shouted of his weal to tell. 870 

The Minstrel heard the far halloo, 

And joyful from the shore withdrew. 





THE PASS OF BEALA-NAM-BO. 



CANTO THIRD. 



THE GATHERING. 



Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, 
Who danced our infancy upon their knee, 

And told our marvelHng boyhood legends store 
Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea, 

How are they blotted from the things that be ! 



6o THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO III. 



How few, all weak and withered of their force, 
Wait on the verge of dark eternity. 

Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse. 
To sweep them from our sight ! Time rolls his ceaseless 
course. 

Yet live there still who can remember well, lo 

How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, 
Both field and forest, dingle, clift', and dell, 

And solitary heath, the signal knew ; 
And fast the faithful clan around him drew. 

What time the warning note was keenly wound. 
What time aloft their kindred banner flew. 

While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, 
And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, round. 

II. 

The Summer dawn's reflected hue 

To purple changed Loch Katrine blue ; a* 

Mildly and soft the western breeze 

Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees. 

And the pleased lake, like maiden coy. 

Trembled but dimpled not for joy : 

The mountain-shadows on her breast 

Were neither broken nor at rest ; 

In bright uncertainty they lie. 

Like future joys to Fancy's eye. 

The water-lily to the light 

Her chaHce reared of silver bright ; 30 

The doe awoke, and to the lawn, 

Begemmed with dew-drops, led her fawn ; 

The gray mist left the mountain-side, 

The torrent showed its glistening pride ; 

Invisible in flecked sky 

The lark sent down her revelry j 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. 6i 

The blackbird and the speckled thrush 

Good-morrow gave from brake and bush ; 

In answer cooed the cushat dove 

Her notes of peace and rest and love. aiq 

III. 

No thought of peace, no thought of rest, 

Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. 

With sheathed broadsword in his hand, 

Abrupt he paced the islet strand. 

And eyed the rising sun, and laid 

His hand on his impatient blade. 

Beneath a rock, his vassals' care 

Was prompt the ritual to prepare. 

With deep and deathful meaning fraught ; 

For such Antiquity had taught s» 

Was preface meet, ere yet abroad 

The Cross of Fire should take its road. 

The shrinking band stood oft aghast 

At the impatient glance he cast ; — 

Such glance the mountain eagle threw. 

As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, 

She spread her dark sails on the wind, 

And, high in middle heaven reclined. 

With her broad shadow on the lake, 

Silenced the warblers of the brake. 60 

IV. 

A heap of withered boughs was piled, 
Of juniper and rowan wild, 
Mingled with shivers from the oak, 
Rent by the lightning's recent stroke. 
Brian the Hermit by it stood, 
Barefooted, in his frock and hood. 



62 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO III. 



His grizzled beard and matted hair 

Obscured a visage of despair ; 

His naked arms and legs, seamed o'er, 

The scars of frantic penance bore. 70 

That monk, of savage form and face, 

The impending danger of his race 

Had drawn from deepest solitude, 

Far in Benharrow's bosom rude. 

Not his the mien of Christian priest. 

But Druid's, from the grave released, 

Whose hardened heart and eye might brook 

On human sacrifice to look ; 

And much, 't was said, of heathen lore 

Mixed in the charms he muttered o'er. . 80 

The hallowed creed gave only worse 

And deadlier emphasis of curse. 

No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer, 

His cave the pilgrim shunned with care ; 

The eager huntsman knew his bound, 

And in mid chase called off his hound ; 

Or if, in lonely glen or strath. 

The desert-dweller met his path. 

He prayed, and signed the cross between, 

While terror took devotion's mien. qo 



V. 

Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. 
His mother watched a midnight fold. 
Built deep within a dreary glen. 
Where scattered lay the bones of men 
In some forgotten battle slain. 
And bleached by drifting wind and rain. 
It might have tamed a warrior's heart 
To view such mockery of his art ! 



CANTO in. THE GATHERING. 63 

The knot-grass fettered there the hand 

Which once could burst an iron band ; too 

Beneath the broad and ample bone, 

That bucklered heart to fear unknown, 

A feeble and a timorous guest, 

The fieldfare framed her lowly nest ; 

There the slow blindworm left his slime 

On the fleet limbs that mocked at time ; 

And there, too, lay the leader's skull. 

Still wreathed with chaplet, flushed and full, 

For heath-bell with her purple bloom 

Supplied the bonnet and the plume. no 

All night, in this sad glen, the maid 

Sat shrouded in her mantle's shade : 

She said no shepherd sought her side, 

No hunter's hand her snood untied, 

Yet ne'er again to braid her hair 

The virgin snood did Alice wear ; 

Gone was her maiden glee and sport. 

Her maiden girdle all too short, 

Nor sought she, from that fatal night. 

Or holy church or blessed rite, 120 

But locked her secret in her breast, 

And died in travail, unconfessed. 



VI. 

Alone, among his young compeers, . 

Was Brian from his infant years ; 

A moody and heart-broken boy, 

Estranged from sympathy and joy, 

Bearing each taunt which careless tongue 

On his mysterious lineage flung. 

Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale. 

To wood and stream his hap to wail, 130 



140 



64 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto hi. 

Till, frantic, he as truth received 
What of his birth the crowd believed, 
And sought, in mist and meteor fire. 
To meet and know his Phantom Sire ! 
In vain, to soothe his wayward fate, 
The cloister oped her pitying gate ; 
In vain the learning of the age 
Unclasped the sable-lettered page ; 
Even in its treasures he could find 
Food for the fever of his mind. 
Eager he read whatever tells 
Of magic, cabala, and spells. 
And every dark pursuit aUied 
To curious and presumptuous pride ; 
Till with fired brain and nerves o'erstrung, 
And heart with mystic horrors wrung. 
Desperate he sought Benharrow's den, 
And hid him from the haunts of men. 



VII. 

The desert gave him visions wild. 

Such as might suit the spectre's child. 150 

Where with black cliffs the torrents toil, 

He watched the wheeling eddies boil. 

Till from their foam his dazzled eyes 

Beheld the River Demon rise : 

The mountain mist took form and limb 

Of noontide hag or goblin grim ; 

The midnight wind came wild and dread, 

Swelled with the voices of the dead ; 

Far on the future battle-heath 

His eye beheld the ranks of death : x6« 

Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurled. 

Shaped forth a disembodied world. 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. 65 

One lingering sympathy of mind 

Still bound him to the mortal kind ; 

The only parent he could claim 

Of ancient Alpine's lineage came. 

Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, 

The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream ; 

Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast 

Of charging steeds, careering fast 170 

Along Benharrow's shingly side. 

Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride ; 

The thunderbolt had split the pine, — 

All augured ill to Alpine's line. 

He girt his loins, and came to show 

The signals of impending woe. 

And now stood prompt to bless or ban, 

As bade the Chieftain of his clan. 



VIII. 

'T was all prepared ; — and from the rock 

A goat, the patriarch of the flock, 180 

Before the kindling pile was laid. 

And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. 

Patient the sickening victim eyed 

The life-blood ebb in crimson tide 

Down his clogged beard and shaggy limb, 

Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. 

The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, 

A slender crosslet framed v/ith care, 

A cubit's length in measure due ; 

The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, 190 

Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wave 

Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave. 

And, answering Lomond's breezes deep. 

Soothe many a chieftain's endless sleep. 



66 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto hi. 

The Cross thus formed he held on high, 
With wasted hand and haggard eye, 
And strange and mingled feeHngs woke, 
While his anathema he spoke : — 

IX. 

' Woe to the clansman who shall view 

This symbol of sepulchral yew, 200 

Forgetful that its branches grew 

Where weep the heavens their hoHest dew 

On Alpine's dwelling low ! 
Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, 
He ne'er sh^Il mingle with their dust. 
But, from his sires and kindred thrust, 
Each clansman's execration just 

Shall doom him wrath and woe.' 
He paused ; — the word the vassals took. 
With forward step and fiery look, aic 

On high their naked brands they shook. 
Their clattering targets wildly strook ; 

And first in murmur low. 
Then, like the billow in his course, 
That far to seaward finds his source. 
And flings to shore his mustered force. 
Burst with loud roar their answer hoarse, 

' Woe to the traitor, woe ! ' 
Ben-an's gray scalp the accents knew. 
The joyous wolf from covert drew, 22a 

The exulting eagle screamed afar, — 
They knew the voice of Alpine's war. 

X. 

The shout was hushed on lake and fell, 
The Monk resumed his muttered spell : 



CANTO iii. THE GATHERING. 67 

Dismal and low its accents came. 

The while he scathed the Cross with flame ; 

And the few words that reached the air, 

Although the holiest name was there, 

Had more of blasphemy than prayer. 

But when he shook above the -crowd 230 

Its kindled points, he spoke aloud : — 

^ Woe to the wretch who fails to rear 

At this dread sign the ready spear ! 

For, as the flames this symbol sear, ^ 

His home, the refuge of his fear, 

A kindred fate shall know ; 
Far o'er its roof the volumed flame 
Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim. 
While maids and matrons on his name 
Shall call down wretchedness and shame, 240 

And infamy and woe.' 
Then rose the cry of females, shrill 
As goshawk's whistle on the hill, 
Denouncing misery and ill. 
Mingled with childhood's babbling trill 

Of curses stammered slow \ 
Answering with imprecation dread, 
'■ Sunk be his home in embers red ! 
And cursed be the meanest shed 
That e'er shall hide the houseless head 250 

We doom to want and woe ! ' 
A sharp and shrieking echo gave, 
Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave ! 
And the gray pass where birches wave 

On Beala-nam-bo. 

XI. 

Then deeper paused the priest anew, 
\nd hard his laboring breath he drew. 



68 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto hi. 

While, with set teeth and clenched hand, 

And eyes that glowed like fiery brand, 

He meditated curse more dread, 360 

And deadlier, on the clansman's head 

Who, summoned to his chieftain's aid, 

The signal saw and disobeyed. 

The crosslet's points of sparkling wood 

He quenched among the bubbling blood, 

And, as again the sign he reared. 

Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard : 

* When flits this Cross from man to man, 

Vich- Alpine's summons to his clan. 

Burst be the ear that fails to heed ! 370 

Palsied the foot that shuns to speed ! 

May ravens tear the careless eyes, 

Wolves make the coward heart their prize ! 

As sinks that blood-stream in the earth, 

So may his heart's-blood drench his hearth ! 

As dies in hissing gore the spark, 

Quench thou his light, Destruction dark ! 

And be the grace to him denied. 

Bought by this sign to all beside ! ' 

He ceased ; no echo gave again aSt 

The murmur of the deep Amen. 



XII. 

Then Roderick with impatient look 
From Brian's hand the symbol took : 
' Speed, Malise, speed ! ' he said, and gave 
The crosslet to his henchman brave. 
' The muster-place be Lanrick mead — 
Instant the time — speed, Malise, speed ! ' 
Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, 
A barge across Loch Katrine flew : 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. 69 

High stood the henchman on the prow ; 290 

So rapidly the barge-men row, 

The bubbles, where they launched the boat. 

Were all unbroken and afloat, 

Dancing in foam and ripple still. 

When it had neared the mainland hill ; 

And from the silver beach's side 

Still was the prow three fathom wide, 

When lightly bounded to the land 

The messenger of blood and brand. ' 



XIII. 

Speed, Malise, speed ! the dun deer's hide %^ 

On fleeter foot was never tied. 

Speed, Mahse, speed ! such cause of haste 

Thine active sinews never braced. 

Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast. 

Burst down like torrent from its crest ; 

With short and springing footstep pass 

The trembling bog and false morass ; 

Across the brook like roebuck bound. 

And thread the brake like questing hound ; 

The crag is high, the scaur is deep, 310 

Yet shrink not from the desperate leap : 

Parched are thy burning lips and brow, 

Yet by the fountain pause not now ; 

Herald of battle, fate, and fear, 

Stretch onward in thy fleet career ! 

The wounded hind thou track'st not now, 

Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough. 

Nor pliest thou now thy flying pace 

With rivals in the mountain race ; 

But danger, death, and warrior deed ^2* 

Are in thy course — speed, Malise, speed ! 



/O THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto hi. 



XIV. 

Fast as the fatal symbol flies, 

In arms the huts and hamlets rise ; 

From winding glen, from upland brown, 

They poured each hardy tenant down. 

Nor slacked the messenger his pace ; 

He showed the sign, he named the place, 

And, pressing forward like the wind. 

Left clamor and surprise behind. 

The fisherman forsook the strand, 330 

The swarthy smith took dirk and brand ; 

With changed cheer, the mower blithe 

Left in the half-cut swath his scythe ; 

The herds without a keeper strayed. 

The plough was in mid-furrow stayed. 

The falconer tossed his hawk away, 

The hunter left the stag at bay ; 

Prompt at the signal of alarms, 

Each son of Alpine rushed to arms ; 

So swept the tumult and affray 340 

Along the margin of Achray. 

Alas, thou lovely lake ! that e'er 

Thy banks should echo sounds of fear ! 

The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep 

So stilly on thy bosom deep. 

The lark's blithe carol from the cloud 

Seems for the scene too gayly loud. . 



XV. 

Speed, Malise, speed ! The lake is past, 
Duncraggan's huts appear at last. 
And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen, sso 

Half hidden in the copse so green ; 



CANTO in. THE GATHERING. 7 1 

There mayst thou rest, thy labor done, 

Their lord shall speed the signal on. — 

As stoops the hawk upon his prey, 

The henchman shot him down the way. 

What woful accents load the gale ? 

The funeral yell, the female wail ! 

A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, 

A valiant warrior fights no more. 

Who, in the battle or the chase, 360 

At Roderick's side shall fill his place ! — 

Within the hall^ where torch's ray 

Supplies the excluded beams of day. 

Lies Duncan on his lowly bier. 

And o'er him streams his widow's tear. 

His stripling son stands mournful by, 

His youngest weeps, but knows not why ; 

The village maids and matrons round 

The dismal coronach resound. 

XVI. 
CORONACH. 

He is gone on the mountain, 370 

He is lost to the forest. 
Like a summer-dried fountain, 

When our need was the sorest. 
The font, reappearing, 

From the rain-drops shall borrow, 
But to us comes no cheering. 

To Duncan no morrow ! 

The hand of the reaper 

Takes the ears that are hoary, 
But the voice of the weeper 3.' 

Wails manhood in glory. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto iii. 

The autumn winds rushing 

Waft the leaves that are searest, 
But our flower was in flushing, 

When bhghting was nearest. 

Fleet foot on the correi, 

Sage counsel in cumber, 
Red hand in the foray, 

How sound is thy slumber ! 
Like the dew on the mountain, 390 

Like the foam on the river, 
Like the bubble on the fountain, 

Thou art gone, and forever ! 

XVII. 

See Stumah, who, the bier beside. 

His master's corpse with wonder eyed, 

Poor Stumah ! whom his least halloo 

Could send like hghtning o'er the dew, 

Bristles his crest, and points his ears. 

As if some stranger step he hears. 

'T is not a mourner's muffled tread, 400 

Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, 

But headlong haste or deadly fear 

Urge the precipitate career. 

All stand aghast : — unheeding all, 

The henchman bursts into the hall ; 

Before the dead man's bier he stood, 

Held forth the Cross besmeared with blood ; 

' The muster-place is Lanrick mead ; 

Speed forth the signal ! clansmen, speed ! ' 

XVIII. 

Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, 410 

Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign. 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. 73 

In haste the stripling to his side 

His father's dirk and broadsword tied ; 

But when he saw his mother's eye 

Watch him in speechless agony, 

Back to her opened arms he flew, 

Pressed on her lips a fond adieu, — 

' Alas ! ' she sobbed, — '■ and yet be gone, 

And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son ! ' 

One look he cast upon the bier, 420 

Dashed from his eye the gathering tear. 

Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast, 

And tossed aloft his bonnet crest. 

Then, like the high-bred colt when, freed, 

First he essays his fire and speed. 

He vanished, and o'er moor and moss 

Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. 

Suspended was the widow's tear 

While yet his footsteps she could hear ; 

And when she marked the henchman's eye 43* 

Wet with unwonted sympathy, 

' Kinsman,' she said, ' his race is run 

That should have sped thine errand on ; 

The oak has fallen, — the sapHng bough 

Is all Duncraggan's shelter now. 

Yet trust I well, his duty done, 

The orphan's God will guard my son. — 

And you, in many a danger true, 

At Duncan's hest your blades that drew. 

To arms, and guard that orphan's head ! 440 

Let babes and women wail the dead.' 

Then weapon- clang and martial call 

Resounded through the funeral hall. 

While from the walls the attendant band 

Snatched sword and targe with hurried hand ; 



74 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto hi. 

And short and flitting energy 

Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, 

As if the sounds to warrior dear 

Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. 

But faded soon that borrowed force ; 4So 

Grief claimed his right, and tears their course. 

XIX. 

Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, 

It glanced like lightning up Strath -Ire. 

O'er dale and hill the summons flew, 

Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew ; 

The tear that gathered in his eye 

He left the mountain-breeze to dry ; 

Until, where Teith's young waters roll 

Betwixt him and a wooded knoll 

That graced the sable strath with green, 460 

The chapel of Saint Bride was seen. 

Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge. 

But Angus paused not on the edge ; 

Though the dark waves danced dizzily, 

Though reeled his sympathetic eye, 

He dashed amid the torrent's roar : 

His right hand high the crosslet bore. 

His left the pole-axe grasped, to guide 

And stay his footing in the tide. 

He stumbled twice, — the foam splashed high, 47° 

With hoarser swell the stream raced by ; 

And had he fallen, — forever there, 

Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir ! 

But still, as if in parting life, 

Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife. 

Until the opposing bank he gained. 

And up the chapel pathway strained. 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. 75 



XX. 

A blithesome rout that morning-tide 

Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride. 

Her troth Tombea's Mary gave 48c 

To Norman, heir of Armandave, 

And, issuing from tlie Gothic arch. 

The bridal now resumed their march. 

In rude but glad procession came 

Bonneted sire and coif- clad dame ; 

And plaided youth, with jest and jeer, 

Which snooded maiden would not hear ; 

And children, that, unwitting why. 

Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry ; 

And minstrels, that in measures vied 490 

Before the young and bonny bride, 

Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose 

The tear and blush of morning rose. 

With virgin step and bashful hand 

She held the kerchiefs snowy band. 

The gallant bridegroom by her side 

Beheld his prize with victor's pride. 

And the glad mother in her ear 

Was closely whispering word of cheer. 

XXI. 

Who meets them at the churchyard gate ? s<x» 

The messenger of fear and fate ! 

Haste in his hurried accent lies, 

And grief is swimming in his eyes. 

All dripping from the recent flood, 

Panting and travel-soiled he stood. 

The fatal sign of fire and sword 

Held forth, and spoke the appointed word : 



76 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto hi. 

^ The muster- place is Lanrick mead ; 

Speed forth the signal ! Norman, speed ! ' 

And must he change so soon the hand 510 

Just linked to his by holy band, 

For the fell Cross of blood and brand ? 

And must the day so blithe that rose, 

And promised rapture in the close, 

Before its setting hour, divide 

The bridegroom from the plighted bride ? 

O fatal doom ! — it must ! it must ! 

Clan- Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust. 

Her summons dread, brook no delay ; 

Stretch to the race, — away ! away ! 520 

XXII. 

Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, 

And lingering eyed his lovely bride. 

Until he saw the starting tear 

Speak woe he might not stop to cheer ; 

Then, trusting not a second look, 

In haste he sped him up the brook, 

Nor backward glanced till on the heath 

Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith. — 

What in the racer's bosom stirred? 

The sickening pang of hope deferred, 53* 

And memory with a torturing train 

Of all his morning visions vain. 

Mingled with love's impatience, came 

The manly thirst for martial fame ; 

The stormy joy of mountaineers 

Ere yet they rush upon the spears ; 

And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning. 

And hope, from well-fought field returning, 

With war's red honors on his crest, 

To clasp his Mary to his breast. 540 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. 77 

Stung by such thoughts, o'er bank and brae, 
Like fire firom flint he glanced away, 
While high resolve and feeling strong 
Burst into voluntary song. 



xxin. 

SONG. 

The heath this night must be my bed, 
The bracken curtain for my head. 
My lullaby the warder's tread, 

Far, far, from love and thee, Mar}^ ; 
To-morrow eve, more stilly laid. 
My couch may be my bloody plaid, 550 

My vesper song thy wail, sweet maid ! 

It will not waken me, j\Iary ! 

I may not, dare not, fancy now 
The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, 
I dare not think upon thy vow. 

And all it promised me, Mary. 
No fond regret mu3t Norman know ; 
\^^^en bursts Clan- Alpine on the foe. 
His heart must be like bended bow. 

His foot like arrow free, Mary. 560 

A time will come with feeling fraught, 
For, if I fall in battle fought. 
Thy hapless lover's dying thought 

Shall be a thought on thee, Mary. 
And if returned from conquered foes. 
How blithely will the evening close. 
How sweet the linnet sing repose. 

To my young bride and me, Mary ! 



7^ THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO III. 



XXIV. 

Not faster o'er thy heathery braes, 

Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze, 570 

Rushing in conflagration strong 

Thy deep ravines and dells along, 

Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow. 

And reddening the dark lakes below ; 

Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, 

As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. 

The signal roused to martial coil 

The sullen margin of Loch Voil, 

Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source 

Alarmed, Balvaig, thy swampy course ; 580 

Thence southward turned its rapid road 

Adown Strath- Gartney's valley broad, 

Till rose in arms each man might claim 

A portion in Clan-Alpine's name. 

From the gray sire, whose trembling hand 

Could hardly buckle on his brand, 

To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow 

Were yet scarce terror to the crow. 

Each valley, each sequestered glen, 

Mustered its little horde of men, sgo 

That met as torrents from the height 

In Highland dales their streams unite. 

Still gathering, as they pour along, 

A voice more loud, a tide more strong, 

Till at the rendezvous they stood 

By hundreds prompt for blows and blood, 

Each trained to arms since life began, 

Owning no tie but to his clan. 

No oath but by his chieftain's hand. 

No law but Roderick Dhu's command. 600 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. 79 

XXV. 

That summer morn had Roderick Dhu 

Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue, 

And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, 

To view the frontiers of Menteith. 

All backward came with news of truce ; 

Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce, 

In Rednock courts no horsemen wait, 

No banner waved on Cardross gate, 

On Duchray's towers no beacon shone. 

Nor scared the herons from Loch Con ; 610 

All seemed at peace. — Now wot ye why 

The Chieftain with such anxious eye, 

Ere to the muster he repair, 

This western frontier scanned with care? — - 

In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, 

A fair though cruel pledge was left ; 

For Douglas, to his promise true, 

That morning from the isle withdrew, 

And in a deep sequestered dell 

Had sought a low and lonely cell. 6ao 

By many a bard in Celtic tongue 

Has Coir- nan- Uriskin been sung ; 

A softer name the Saxons gave. 

And called the grot the Goblin Cave. 



XXVI. 

It was a wild and strange retreat. 

As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. 

The dell, upon the mountain's crest. 

Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast ; 

Its trench had stayed full many a rock, 

Hurled by primeval earthquake shock 630 



So 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO IIL 




THE GOBLIN'S CAVE. 



From Benvenue's gray summit wild, 
And here, in random ruin piled, 
They frowned incumbent o'er the spot, 
And formed the rugged sylvan grot. 
The oak and birch with mingled shade 
At noontide there a twilight made. 
Unless when short and sudden shone 
Some straggling beam on cliff or stone, 
With such a glimpse as prophet's eye 
Gains on thy depth. Futurity. 



640 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. 8 1 

No murmur waked the solemn still, 

Save tinkling of a fountain rill ; 

But when the wind chafed with the lake, 

A sullen sound would upward break, 

With dashing hollow voice, that spoke 

The incessant war of wave and rock. 

Suspended chffs with hideous sway 

Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray. 

From such a den the wolf had sprung, 

In such the wild-cat leaves her young ; 650 

Yet Douglas and his daughter fair 

Sought for a space their safety there. 

Gray Superstition's whisper dread 

Debarred the spot to vulgar tread ; 

For there, she said, did fays resort, 

And satyrs hold their sylvan court. 

By moonHght tread their mystic maze, 

And blast the rash beholder's gaze. 

XXVII. 

Now eve, with western shadows long, 
Floated on Katrine bright and strong, 660 

When Roderick with a chosen few 
Repassed the heights of Benvenue. 
Above the GobHn Cave they go, 
Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo ; 
The prompt retainers speed before. 
To launch the shallop from the shore, 
For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way 
To view the passes of Achray, 
And place his clansmen in array. 
Yet lags the Chief in musing mind, 670 

Unwonted sight, his men behind. 
A single page, to bear his sword, 
Alone attended on his lord ; 
6 



82 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO III. 



The rest their way through thickets break, 

And soon await him by the lake. 

It was a fair and gallant sight, 

To view them from the neighboring height, 

By the low-levelled sunbeam's light ! 

For strength and stature, from the clan 

Each warrior was a chosen man, 680 

As even afar might well be seen, 

By their proud step and martial mien. 

Their feathers dance, their tartans float, 

Their targets gleam, as by the boat 

A wild and warlike group they stand, 

That well became such mountain-strand. 

XXVIII. 

Their Chief with step reluctant still 

Was lingering on the craggy hill. 

Hard by where turned apart the road 

To Douglas's obscure abode. 690 

It was but with that dawning morn 

That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn 

To drown his love in war's wild roar. 

Nor think of Ellen Douglas more ; 

But he who stems a stream with sand, 

And fetters flame with flaxen band, 

Has yet a harder task to prove, — 

By firm resolve to conquer love ! 

Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost. 

Still hovering near his treasure lost ; 700 

For though his haughty heart deny 

A parting meeting to his eye. 

Still fondly strains his anxious ear 

The accents of her voice to hear, 

And inly did he curse the breeze 

That waked to sound the rustling trees. 



CANTO III. THE GATHERING. ^"^ 

But hark ! what mingles in the strain ? 

It is the harp of Allan-bane, 

That wakes its measure slow and high, 

Attuned to sacred minstrelsy. ^^. 

What melting voice attends the strings ? 

'T is Ellen, or an angel, sings. 



XXIX. 

HYMN TO THE VIRGIN. 

Ave Maria I maiden mild ! 

Listen to a maiden's prayer \ 
Thou canst hear though from the wild, 

Thou canst save amid despair. 
Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, 

Though banished, outcast, and reviled — 
Maiden ! hear a maiden's prayer ; 

Mother, hear a suppHant child ! 720 

Ave Maria I 

Ave Maria ! undefiled ! 

The flinty couch we now must share 
Shall seem with down of eider piled. 

If thy protection hover there. 
The murky cavern's heavy air 

Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled : 
Then, Maiden ! hear a maiden's prayer. 

Mother, list a suppliant child ! 

Ave Maria / 

Ave Maria ! stainless styled ! 

Foul demons of the earth and air, 730 

From this their wonted haunt exiled. 

Shall flee before thy presence fair. 



84 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto iu 

We bow us to our lot of care, 

Beneath thy guidance reconciled : 

Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, 
And for a father hear a child ! 

Ave Maria / 

XXX. 

Died on the harp the closing hymn, — 

Unmoved in attitude and limb, 

As listening still, Clan-Alpine's lord 

Stood leaning on his heavy sword, 740 

Until the page with humble sign 

Twice pointed to the sun's decline. 

Then while his plaid he round him cast, 

' It is the last time — 'tis the last,' 

He muttered thrice, — ' the last time e'er 

That angel-voice shall Roderick hear ! ' 

It was a goading thought, — his stride 

Hied hastier down the mountain -side ; 

Sullen he flung him in the boat. 

An instant 'cross the lake it shot. . 75« 

They landed in that silvery bay. 

And eastward held their hasty way, 

Till, with the latest beams of light. 

The band arrived on Lanrick height, 

Where mustered in the vale below 

Clan- Alpine's men in martial show. 

XXXI. 

A various scene the clansmen made : 

Some sat, some stood, some slowly strayed ; 

But most, with mantles folded round, 

Were couched to rest upon the ground, 769 

Scarce to be known by curious eye 

From the deep heather where they lie, 



CANTO III. 



THE GATHERING. 



S5 




LANRICK HEIGHTS, FROM LANRICK MEAD. 



So well was matched the tartan screen 

With heath-bell dark and brackens green j 

Unless where, here and there, a blade 

Or lance's point a glimmer made, 

Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade. 

But when, advancing through the gloom, 

They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume, 

Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, 

Shook the steep mountain's steady side. 

Thrice it arose, and lake and fell 

Three times returned the martial yell ; 

It died upon Bochastle's plain, 

And Silence claimed her evening reign. 



770 



^^^^ 




FALLS AT hero's TARGE. 



CANTO FOURTH. 



THE PROPHECY. 



I. 



* The rose is fairest when 't is budding new, 

And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears ; 

The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew, 
And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears. 



CANTO IV. 



THE PROPHECY. 87 



O wilding rose, whom fancy thus endears, 

I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave, 
Emblem of hope and love through future years ! * 

Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Armandave, 
What time the sun arose on Vennachar's broad wave. 

II. 

Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, i© 

Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. 

All while he stripped the wild-rose spray. 

His axe and bow beside him lay. 

For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood 

A wakeful sentinel he stood. 

Hark ! — on the rock a footstep rung. 

And instant to his arms he sprung. 

' Stand, or thou diest ! — What, Malise ? — soon 

Art thou returned from Braes of Doune. 

By thy keen step and glance I know, 20 

Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe.' — 

For while the Fiery Cross hied on, 

On distant scout had Malise gone. — 

' Where sleeps the Chief? ' the henchman said. 

' Apart, in yonder misty glade ; 

To his lone couch I '11 be your guide.' — 

Then called a slumberer by his side, 

And stirred him with his slackened bow, — 

' Up, up, Glentarkin ! rouse thee, ho ! 

We seek the- Chieftain ; on the track jo 

Keep eagle watch till I come back.' 

III. 

Together up the pass they sped : 
* What of the foeman ? ' Norman said. — 
' Varying reports from near and far ; 
This certain, — that a band of war 



8« THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANTO iv. 

Has for two days been ready boune, 

At prompt command to march from Doune ; 

King James the while, with princely powers, 

Holds revelry in Stirling towers. 

Soon will this dark and gathering cloud 40 

Speak on our glens in thunder loud. 

Inured to bide such bitter bout. 

The warrior's plaid may bear it out ; 

But, Norman, how wilt thou provide 

A shelter for thy bonny bride ? ' — 

' What ! know ye not that Roderick's care 

To the lone isle hath caused repair 

Each maid and matron of the clan, 

And every child and aged man 

Unfit for arms ; and given his charge, ie 

Nor skiff nor shallop, boat nor barge, 

Upon these lakes shall float at large. 

But all beside the islet moor, 

That such dear pledge may rest secure ? ' — 

IV. 

* 'T is well advised, — the Chieftain's plan 
Bespeaks the father of his clan. 

But wherefore sleeps Sir Roderick Dhu 
Apart from all his followers true ? ' 

* It is because last evening-tide 

Brian an augury hath tried, te 

Of that dread kind which must not be 

Unless in dread extremity, 

The Taghairm called ; by which, afar, 

Our sires foresaw the events of war. 

Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew,' — 

MALISE. 

' Ah ! well the gallant brute I knew ! 
The choicest of the prey we had 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. 89 

When swept our merrymen Gallangad. 

His hide was snow, his horns were dark, 

His red eye glowed like fiery spark ; 7» 

So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet, 

Sore did he cumber our retreat, 

And kept our stoutest kerns in awe, 

Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. 

But steep and flinty was the road, 

And sharp the hurrying pikeman's goad, 

And when we came to Dennan's Row 

A child might scathless stroke his brow.' 

V. 

NORMAN. 

' That bull was slain ; his reeking hide 

They stretched the cataract beside. So 

Whose waters their wild tumult toss 

Adown the black and craggy boss 

Of that huge cliff whose ample verge 

Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. 

Couched on a shelf beneath its brink, 

Close where the thundering torrents sink. 

Rocking beneath their headlong sway, 

And drizzled by the ceaseless spray, 

Midst groan of rock and roar of stream. 

The wizard waits prophetic dream. 90 

Nor distant rests the Chief; — but hush ! 

See, gliding slow through mist and bush, 

The hermit gains yon rock, and stands 

To gaze upon our slumbering bands. 

Seems he not, Malise, like a ghost. 

That hovers o'er a slaughtered host? 

Or raven on the blasted oak, 

That, watching while the deer is broke. 

His morsel claims with sullen croak? ' 



90 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto iv. 

MALISE. 

^.. * Peace ! peace ! to other than to me leo 

Thy words were evil augury ; 
But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade 
Clan- Alpine's omen and her aid,. 
Not aught that, gleaned from heaven or hell, 
Yon fiend-begotten Monk can tell. 
The Chieftain joins him, see — and now 
Together they descend the brow.' 

VI. 

And, as they came, with Alpine's Lord 

The Hermit Monk held solemn word : — 

' Roderick ! it is a fearful strife, nc 

For man endowed with mortal life. 

Whose shroud of sentient clay can still 

Feel feverish pang and fainting chill, 

Whose eye can stare in stony trance. 

Whose hair can rouse like warrior's lance, — 

'T is hard for such to view, unfurled. 

The curtain of the future world. 

Yet, witness every quaking limb, 

My sunken pulse, mine eyeballs dim, 

My soul with harrowing anguish torn, tae 

This for my Chieftain have I borne ! — 

The shapes that sought my fearful couch 

A human tongue may ne'er avouch ; 

No mortal man — save he, who, bred 

Between the living and the dead. 

Is gifted beyond nature's law — 

Had e'er survived to say he saw. 

At length the fateful answer came 

In characters of living flame ! 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. 91 

Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, 130 

But borne and branded on my soul : — 
Which spills the foremost foeman's life. 
That party conquers in the strife.' 

VII. 

* Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care ! 
Good is thine augury, and fair. 
Clan- Alpine ne'er in battle stood 

But first our broadswords tasted blood. 

A surer victim still I know, 

Self-offered to the auspicious blow : 

A spy has sought my land this morn, — 140 

No eve shall witness his return ! 

My followers guard each pass's mouth, 

To east, to westward, and to south ; 

Red Murdoch, bribed to be his guide, 

Has charge to lead his steps aside, 

Till in deep path or dingle brown 

He light on those shall bring him down. — 

But se^, who comes his news to show ! 

Malise ! what tidings of the foe ? ' 

VIII. 

* At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive 150 
Two Barons proud their banners wave. 

I saw the Moray's silver star, 

And marked the sable pale of Mar.' 

' By Alpine's soul, high tidings those ! 

I love to hear of worthy foes. 

When move they on?' 'To-morrow's noon 

Will see them here for battle boune.' 

* Then shall it see a meeting stern ! 

But, for the place, — say, couldst thou learn 
Nought of the friendly clans of Earn ? i6» 



92 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, canto iv. 

Strengthened by them, we well might bide 

The battle on Benledi's side. 

Thou couldst not ? — well ! Clan- Alpine's men 

Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen ; 

Within Loch Katrine's gorge we '11 fight, 

All in our maids' and matrons' sight, 

Each for his hearth and household fire, 

Father for child, and son for sire, 

Lover for maid beloved ! — But why — 

Is it the breeze affects mine eye ? 170 

Or dost thou come, ill-omened tear ! 

A messenger of doubt or fear ? 

No ! sooner may the Saxon lance 

Unfix Benledi from his stance, 

Than doubt or terror can pierce through 

The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu ! 

'Tis stubborn as his trusty targe. 

Each to his post! — all know their charge.' 

The pibroch sounds, the bands advance. 

The broadswords gleam, the banners dance, iSa 

Obedient to the Chieftain's glance. — • 

I turn me from the martial roar, 

And seek Coir-Uriskin once more. 



IX. 

Where is the Douglas ? — he is gone ; 

And Ellen sits on the gray stone 

Fast by the cave, and makes her moan, 

While vainly Allan's words of cheer 

Are poured on her unheeding ear. 

* He will return — dear lady, trust ! — 

With joy return ; — he will — he must. 190 

Well was it time to seek afar 

Some ^efuge from impending war. 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. 93 

When e'en Clan-Alpine's rugged swarm 

Are cowed by the approaching storm. 

I saw their boats with many a light, 

Floating the livelong yesternight, 

Shifting like flashes darted forth 

By the red streamers of the north ; 

I marked at morn how close they ride, 

Thick moored by the lone islet's side, 200 

Like wild ducks couching in the fen 

When stoops the hawk upon the glen. 

Since this rude race dare not abide 

The peril on the mainland side. 

Shall not thy noble father's care 

Some safe retreat for thee prepare ? ' 

X. 

ELLEN. 

' No, Allan, no ! Pretext so kind 
My wakeful terrors could not blind. 
When in such tender tone, yet grave, 
Douglas a parting blessing gave, 210 

The tear that glistened in his eye 
Drowned not his purpose fixed and high. 
My soul, though feminine and weak, 
Can image his ; e'en as the lake, 
Itself disturbed by slightest stroke. 
Reflects the invulnerable rock. 
He hears report of battle rife. 
He deems himself the cause of strife. 
I saw him redden when the theme 
Turned, Allan, on thine idle dream 22c 

Of Malcolm Grasme in fetters bound. 
Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. 
Think'st thou he trowed thine omen aught? 
I O no ! 'twas apprehensive thought 



94 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto iv. 

For the kind youth, — for Roderick too — 

Let me be just — that friend so true ; 

In danger both, and in our cause ! 

Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. 

Why else that solemn warning given, 

' If not on earth, we meet in heaven \ ' 9.?f. 

Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane, 

If eve return him not again, 

Am I to hie and make me known? 

Alas ! he goes to Scotland's throne. 

Buys his friends' safety with his own ; 

He goes to do — what I had done. 

Had Douglas' daughter been his son ! ' 



XI. 

' Nay, lovely Ellen ! — dearest, nay I 

If aught should his return delay. 

He only named yon holy fane 240 

As fitting place to meet again. 

Be sure he 's safe ; and for the Graeme, — 

Heaven's blessing on his gallant name ! — 

My visioned sight may yet prove true, 

Nor bode of ill to him or you. 

When did my gifted dream beguile ? 

Think of the stranger at the isle. 

And think upon the harpings slow 

That presaged this approaching woe ! 

Sooth was my prophecy of fear ; 250 

Believe it when it augurs cheer. 

Would we had left this dismal spot ! 

Ill luck still haunts a fairy grot. 

Of such a wondrous tale I know — 

Dear lady, change that look of woe. 

My harp was wont thy grief to cheer.' 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. 95 



ELLEN. 

' Well, be it as thou wilt ; I hear, 

But cannot stop the bursting tear.' 

The Minstrel tried his simple art, 

But distant far was Ellen's heart. 260 



xn. 

BALLAD. 
ALICE BRAND. 

Merry it is in the good greenwood, 

When the mavis and merle are singing, 
When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry. 

And the hunter's horn is ringing. 

' O Alice Brand, my native land 

Is lost for love of you ; 
And we must hold by wood and wold, 

As outlaws wont to do. 

' O Alice, 't was all for thy locks so bright, 

And 't was all for thine eyes so blue, 270 

That on the night of our luckless flight 
Thy brother bold I slew. 

' Now must I teach to hew the beech 

The hand that held the glaive. 
For leaves to spread our lowly bed, 

And stakes to fence our cave. 

* And for vest of pall, thy fingers small. 

That wont on harp to stray, 
A cloak must shear from the slaughtered deer, 

To keep the cold away.' 280 



96 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO IV. 




IN THE GREENWOOD. 



' O Richard ! if my brother died, 

'T was but a fatal chance ; 
For darkling was the battle tried, 

And fortune sped the laoce. 

' If pall and vair no more I weai, 
Nor thou the crimson sheen, 

As warm, we '11 say, is the russet gray, 
As gay the forest-green. 



* And, Richard, if our lot be hard, 
And lost thy native land. 

Still Alice has her own Richard, 
And he his Alice Brand.' 



ago 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. 97 

XIII. 

BALLAD CONTINUED. 

'T is merry, 't is merry, in good greenwood ; 

So blithe Lady Alice is singing ; 
On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, 

Lord Richard's axe is ringing. 

Up spoke the moody Elfin King, 

Who woned within the hill, — 
Like wind in the porch of a ruined church. 

His voice was ghostly shrill. 300 

' Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, 

Our moonlight circle's screen? 
Or who comes here to chase the deer, 

Beloved of our Elfin Queen? 
Or who may dare on wold to wear 

The fairies' fatal green ? 

' Up, Urgan, up ! to yon mortal hie, 

For thou wert christened man ; 
For cross or sign thou wilt not fly. 

For muttered word or ban. 310 

* Lay on him the curse of the withered heart, 

The curse of the sleepless eye ; 
Till he wish and pray that his life would part, 

Nor yet find leave to die.' 

XIV. 
BALLAD CONTINUED. 

'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood. 
Though the birds have stilled their singing ; 

The evening blaze doth Alice raise. 
And Richard is fagots bringing. 
7 



93 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO IV. 



Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf, 

Before Lord Richard stands, 320 

And, as he crossed and blessed himself, 
* I fear not sign/ quoth the grisly elf, 

'That is made with bloody hands.' 

But out then spoke she, Alice Brand, 

That woman void of fear, — 
' And if there 's blood upon his hand, 

'Tis but the blood of deer.' 

' Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood ! 

It cleaves unto his hand, 
The stain of thine own kindly blood, 330 

The blood of Ethert Brand.' 

Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand, 

And made the holy sign, — 
'And if there 's blood on Richard's hand, 

A spotless hand is mine. 

'And I conjure thee, demon elf. 

By Him whom demons fear, 
To show us whence thou art thyself. 

And what thine errand here ? ' 



XV. 

BALLAD CONTINUED. 

* 'T is merry, 't is merry, in Fairy-land, 340 

When fairy birds are singing, 
When the court doth ride by their monarch's side, 

With bit and bridle ringing : 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. 99 

*And gayly shines the Fairy- land — 

But all is glistening show, 
Like the idle gleam that December's beam 

Can dart on ice and snow. 

' And fading, like that varied gleam, 

Is our inconstant shape. 
Who now like knight and lady seem, ss* 

And now like dwarf and ape. 

* It was between the night and day, 

When the Fairy King has power, 
That I sunk down in a sinful fray. 
And 'twixt life and death was snatched away 

To the joyless Elfin bower. 

* But wist I of a woman bold, 

Who thrice my brow durst sign, 
I might regain my mortal mould, 
i : As fair a form as thine.' 360 

She crossed him once — she crossed him twice — 

That lady was so brave ; 
The fouler grew his goblin hue. 

The darker grew the cave. 

She crossed him thrice, that lady bold ; 

He rose beneath her hand 
The fairest knight on Scottish mould, 

Her brother, Ethert Brand ! 

Merry it is in good greenwood. 

When the mavis and merle are singing, 370 

But merrier were they in Dunfermline gray, 

When all the bells were ringing. 



loo THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto IV. 



XVI. 

Just as the minstrel sounds were stayed, 

A stranger climbed the steepy glade ; 

His martial step, his stately mien. 

His hunting-suit of Lincoln green, 

His eagle glance, remembrance claims — 

'T is Snowdoun's Knight, 't is James Fitz-James. 

Ellen beheld as in a dream, 

Then, starting, scarce suppressed a scream : 380 

* O stranger ! in such hour of fear 
What evil hap has brought thee here ? ' 
' An evil hap how can it be 

That bids me look again on thee ? 

By promise bound, my former guide 

Met me betimes this morning-tide. 

And marshalled over bank and bourne 

The happy path of my return.' 

' The happy path ! — what ! said he naught 

Of war, of battle to be fought, 390 

Of guarded pass ? ' ' No, by my faith ! 

Nor saw I aught could augur scathe.' 

* O haste thee, Allan, to the kern : 
Yonder his tartans I discern ; 
Learn thou his purpose, and conjure 
That he will guide the stranger sure ! — 
What prompted thee, unhappy man ? 
The meanest serf in Roderick's clan 
Had not been bribed, by love or fear, 

Unknown to him to guide thee here.* 400 

xvn. 



' Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be. 
Since it is worthy care from thee ; 



r-ANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. lOi 

Yet life I hold but idle breath 

When love or honor 's weighed with death. 

Then let me profit by my chance, 

And speak my purpose bold at once. 

I come to bear thee fi"om a wild 

Where ne'er before such blossom smiled, 

By this soft hand to lead thee far 

From frantic scenes of feud and war. 4ro 

Near Bochastle my horses wait ; 

They bear us soon to Stirling gate. 

I '11 place thee in a lovely bower, 

I '11 guard thee like a tender flower — ' 

' O hush, Sir Knight ! 'twere female art. 

To say I do not read thy heart ; 

Too much, before, my selfish ear 

Was idly soothed my praise to hear. 

That fatal bait hath lured thee back. 

In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track ; 420 

And how, O how, can I atone 

The wreck my vanity brought on ! — 

One way remains — I '11 tell him all — 

Yes ! struggling bosom, forth it shall ! 

Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, 

Buy thine own pardon with thy shame ! 

But first — my father is a man 

Outlawed and exiled, under ban ; 

The price of blood is on his head. 

With me 'twere infamy to wed. 430 

Still wouldst thou speak ? — then hear the truth 1 

Fitz-James, there is a noble youth — 

If yet he is ! — exposed for me 

And mine to dread extremity — 

Thou hast the secret of my heart ; 

Forgive, be generous, and depart ! ' 



I02 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto iv. 



XVIII. 

Fitz- James knew every wily train 

A lady's fickle heart to gain, 

But here he knew and felt them vain. 

There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, 440 

To give her steadfast speech the lie ; 

In maiden confidence she stood, 

Though mantled in her cheek the blood, 

And told her love with such a sigh 

Of deep and hopeless agony, 

As death had sealed her Malcolm's doom 

And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. 

Hope vanished from Fitz-James's eye, 

But not with hope fled sympathy. 

He proffered to attend her side, 450 

As brother would a sister guide. 

' O little know'st thou Roderick's heart ! 

Safer for both we go apart. 

O haste thee, and from Allan learn 

If thou mayst trust yon wily kern.' 

With hand upon his forehead laid, 

The conflict of his mind to shade, 

A parting step or two he made ; 

Then, as some thought had crossed his brain. 

He paused, and turned, and came again. 460 

XIX. 

' Hear, lady, yet a parting word ! — 
It chanced in fight that my poor sword 
Preserved the life of Scotland's lord. 
This ring the grateful Monarch gave. 
And bade, when I had boon to crave, 
To bring it back, and boldly claim 
The recompense that I would name. 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. 103 

Ellen, I am no courtly lord, 

But one who lives by lance and sword, 

Whose castle is his helm and shield, 470 

His lordship the embattled field. 

What from a prince can I demand. 

Who neither reck of state nor land? 

Ellen, thy hand — the ring is thine ; 

Each guard and usher knows the sign. 

Seek thou the King without delay ; 

This signet shall secure thy way : 

And claim thy suit, whate'er it be. 

As ransom of his pledge to me.' 

He placed the golden circlet on, 48c 

Paused — kissed her hand — and then was gone. 

The aged Minstrel stood aghast. 

So hastily Fitz-James shot past. 

He joined his guide, and wending down 

The ridges of the mountain brown, 

Across the stream they took their way 

That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. 

XX. 

All in the Trosachs' glen was still, 

Noontide was sleeping on the hill : 

Sudden his guide whooped loud and high — 490 

' Murdoch ! was that a signal cry ? ' — 

He stammered forth, ^ I shout to scare 

Yon raven from his dainty fare.' 

He looked — he knew the raven's prey. 

His own brave steed : ' Ah ! gallant gray ! 

For thee — for me, perchance — 't were well 

We ne'er had seen the Trosachs' dell. — 

Murdoch, move first — but silently ; 

Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die ! ' 

Jealous and sullen on they fared, 50a 

Each silent, each uyon his guard. 



104 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO IV. 




ON THE BORDER OF LOCH ACHRAY. 



XXI. 

Now wound the path its dizzy ledge 
Around a precipice's edge, 
When lo ! a wasted female form, 
Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, 
In tattered weeds and wild array, 
Stood on a cliff beside the way, 
And glancing round her restless eye. 
Upon the wood, the rock, the sky. 
Seemed naught to mark, yet all to spy. 
Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom j 
With gesture wild she waved a plume 
Of feathers, which the eagles fling 
To crag and cliff from dusky wing ; 
Such spoils her desperate step had sought, 
Where scarce was footing for the goat. 



5^^^ 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY, 1 05 

The tartan plaid she first descried, 

And shrieked till all the rocks replied ; 

As loud she laughed when near they drew, 

For then the Lowland garb she knew ; 54Q 

And then her hands she wildly wrung. 

And then she wept, and then she sung — 

She sung ! — the voice, in better time, 

Perchance to harp or lute might chime ; 

And now, though strained and roughened, still 

Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. 

XXII. 
SONG. 

They bid me sleep, they bid me pray. 

They say my brain is warped and wrung — 

I cannot sleep on Highland brae, 

I cannot pray in Highland tongue. 530 

But were I now where Allan glides, 

Or heard my native Devan's tides, 

So sweetly would I rest, and pray 

That Heaven would close my wintry day ! 

'Twas thus my hair they bade me braid. 
They made me to the church repair ; 

It was my bridal morn they said. 

And my true love would meet me there. 

But woe betide the cruel guile 

That drowned in blood the morning smile ! 54© 

And woe betide the fairy dream ! 

I only waked to sob and scream. 

XXIII. 

* Who is this maid ? what means her lay ? 
She hovers o'er the hollow way, 
And flutters wide her mantle gray, 



Ip6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto iv. 

As the lone heron spreads his wing, 
By twilight, o'er a haunted spring.' 

* 'Tis Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said, 

* A crazed and captive Lowland maid, 

Ta'en on the morn she Avas a bride, 550 

When Roderick forayed Devan-side. 

The gay bridegroom resistance made. 

And felt our Chief's unconquered blade. 

I marvel she is now at large, 

But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge. — 

Hence, brain-sick fool ! ' — He raised his bow : — 

'■ Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, 

I '11 pitch thee from the cliff as far 

As ever peasant pitched a bar ! ' 

' Thanks, champion, thanks ! ' the Maniac cried, 56c 

And pressed her to Fitz-James's side. 

'See the gray pennons I prepare, 

To seek my true love through the air ! 

I will not lend that savage groom, 

To break his fall, one downy plume ! 

No ! — deep amid disjointed stones. 

The wolves shall batten on his bones. 

And then shall his detested plaid, 

By bush and brier in mid-air stayed, 

Wave forth a banner fair and free, 570 

Meet signal for their revelry.' 



XXIV. 

* Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still ! ' 

* O ! thou look'st kindly, and I will. 
Mine eye has dried and wasted been, 
But still it loves the Lincoln green ; 
And, though mine ear is all unstrung. 
Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. loy 

* For O my sweet William was forester true, 
He stole poor Blanche's heart away ! 

His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, 580 

And so blithely he trilled the Lowland lay ! 

'■ It was not that I meant to tell . . . 
But thou art wise and guessest well.' 
Then, in a low and broken tone, 
And hurried note, the song went on. 
Still on the Clansman fearfully 
She fixed her apprehensive eye. 
Then turned it on the Knight, and then 
Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. 



XXV. 

' The toils are pitched, and the stakes are set, — 590 

Ever sing merrily, merrily ; 
The bows they bend, and the knives they whet, 

Hunters live so cheerily. 

* It was a stag, a stag of ten. 

Bearing its branches sturdily ; 
He came stately down the glen, — 
Ever sing hardily, hardily. 

* It was there he met with a wounded doe, 

She was bleeding deathfully ; 
She warned him of the toils below, 600 

O, so faithfully, faithfully ! 

* He had an eye, and he could heed, — 

Ever sing warily, warily ; 
He had a foot, and he could speed, — 
Hunters watch so narrowly.' 



Io8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANIO IV. 



XXVI. 

Fitz- James's mind was passion-tossed, 

When Ellen's hints and fears were lost ; 

But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, 

And Blanche's song conviction brought. 

Not like a stag that spies the snare, 6iq 

But lion of the hunt aware, 

He waved at once his blade on high, 

* Disclose thy treachery, or die ! ' 

Forth at full speed the Clansman flew. 

But in his race his bow he drew. 

The shaft just grazed Fitz- James's crest, 

And thrilled in Blanche's faded breast. — 

Murdoch of Alpine ! prove thy speed, 

For ne'er had Alpine's son such need ; 

With heart of fire, and foot of wind, 620 

The fierce avenger is behind ! 

Fate judges of the rapid strife — 

The forfeit death — the prize is life ; 

Thy kindred ambush lies before, 

Close couched upon the heathery moor ; 

Them couldst thou reach ! — it may not be — 

Thine ambushed kin thou ne'er shalt see. 

The fiery Saxon gains on thee ! — 

Resistless speeds the deadly thrust. 

As lightning strikes the pine to dust ; 630 

With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain 

Ere he can win his blade again. 

Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye. 

He grimly smiled to see him die, 

Then slower wended back his way, 

Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. I09 



XXVII. 

She sat beneath the birchen tree, 

Her elbow resting on her knee ; 

She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, 

And gazed on it, and feebly laughed ; 640 

Her wreath of broom and feathers gray, 

Daggled with blood, beside her lay. 

The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried, — 

' Stranger, it is in vain ! ' she cried. 

* This hour of death has given me more 

Of reason's power than years before ; 

For, as these ebbing veins decay. 

My frenzied visions fade away. 

A helpless injured wretch I die. 

And something tells me in thine eye 650 

That thou wert mine avenger born. 

Seest thou this tress ? — O, still I 've worn 

This little ti'ess of yellow hair. 

Through danger, frenzy, and despair ! 

It once was bright and clear as thine, 

But blood and tears have dimmed its shine. 

I will not tell thee when 't was shred, 

Nor from what guiltless victim's head, — 

My brain would turn ! — but it shall wave 

Like plumage on thy helmet brave, 660 

Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain, 

And thou wilt bring it me again. 

I waver still. — O God ! more bright 

Let reason beam her parting light ! — 

O, by thy knighthood's honored sign. 

And for thy life preserved by mine. 

When thou shalt see a darksome man. 

Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's Clan, 



no THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto iv. 

With tartans broad and shadowy plume, 

And hand of blood, and brow of gloom, 670 

Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong. 

And wreak poor Blanche of Devan's wrong ! — 

They watch for thee By pass and fell . . . 

Avoid the path . . . O God ! . . . farewell' 

XXVIII. 

A kindly heart had brave Fitz- James ; 

Fast poured his eyes at pity's claims ; 

And now, with mingled grief and ire, 

He saw the murdered maid expire. 

' God, in my need, be my rehef. 

As I wreak this on yonder Chief ! ' 680 

A lock from Blanche's tresses fair 

He blended with her bridegroom's hair ; 

The mingled braid in blood he dyed, 

And placed it on his bonnet-side : 

* By Him whose word is truth, I swear. 

No other favor will I wear. 

Till this sad token I imbrue 

In the best blood of Roderick Dhu ! — 

But hark ! what means yon faint halloo ? 

The chase is up, — but they shall know, 690 

The stag at bay 's a dangerous foe.' 

Barred from the known but guarded way, 

Through copse and cHffs Fitz-James must stray, 

And oft must change his desperate track, 

By stream and precipice turned back. 

Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length, 

From lack of food and loss of strength. 

He couched him in a thicket hoar, 

And thought his toils and perils o'er : — 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. m 

'■ Of all my rash adventures past, ?<» 

This frantic feat must prove the last ! 

Who e'er so mad but might have guessed 

That all this Highland hornet's nest 

Would muster up in swarms so soon 

As e'er they heard of bands at Doune ? — 

Like bloodhounds now they search me out, — 

Hark, to the whistle and the shout ! — 

If farther through the wilds I go, 

I only fall upon the foe : 

I '11 couch me here till evening gray, 71* 

Then darkling try my dangerous way.' 



XXIX. 

The shades of eve come slowly down. 

The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, 

The owl awakens from her dell. 

The fox is heard upon the fell ; 

Enough remains of glimmering light 

To guide the wanderer's steps aright. 

Yet not enough from far to show 

His figure to the watchful foe. 

With cautious step and ear awake, 720 

He climbs the crag and threads the brake ; 

And not the summer solstice there 

Tempered the midnight mountain air. 

But every breeze that swept the wold 

Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. 

In dread, in danger, and alone, 

Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, 

Tangled and steep, he journeyed on ; 

Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, 

A watch-fire close before him burned. 730 



112 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANTO IV. 



XXX. 

Beside its embers red and clear, 
Basked in his plaid a mountaineer ; 
And up he sprung with sword in hand, — 
' Thy name and purpose ! Saxon, stand ! ' 

* A stranger.' ' What dost thou require ? ' 

* Rest and a guide, and food and fire. 
My life 's beset, my path is lost, 

The gale has chilled my limbs with frost.' 

* Art thou a friend to Roderick? ' ' No.' 

' Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe ? ' 740 

' I dare ! to him and all the band 
He brings to aid his murderous hand.' 

* Bold words ! — but, though the beast of game 
The privilege of chase may claim, 

Though space and law the stag we lend, 

Ere hound we slip or bow we bend, 

Who ever recked, where, how, or when, 

The prowling fox was trapped or slain ? 

Thus treacherous scouts, — yet sure they lie. 

Who say thou cam'st a secret spy ! ' — 750 

' They do, by heaven ! — come Roderick Dhu, 

And of his clan the boldest two. 

And let me but till morning rest, 

I write the falsehood on their crest.' 

' If by the blaze I mark aright. 

Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight.' 

* Then by these tokens mayst thou know 
Each proud oppressor's mortal foe.' 

* Enough, enough ; sit down and share 

A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare.' 76* 

XXXI. 

He gave him of his Highland cheer, 
The hardened flesh of mountain deer ; 



CANTO IV. THE PROPHECY. ri^ 

Dry fuel on the fire he laid, 

And bade the Saxon share his plaid. 

He tended him hke welcome guest, 

Then thus his further speech addressed : — 

* Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu 
A clansman born, a kinsman true ; 
Each word against his honor spoke 

Demands of me avenging stroke ; 770 

Yet more, — upon thy fate, 't is said, 

A mighty augury is laid. 

It rests with me to wind my horn, — 

Thou art with numbers overborne ; 

It rests with me, here, brand to brand, 

Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand : 

But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause, 

Will I depart from honor's laws ; 

To assail a wearied man were shame, 

And stranger is a holy name ; 780 

Guidance and rest, and food and fire, 

In vain he never must require. 

Then rest thee here till dawn of day ; 

Myself will guide thee on the way. 

O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, 

Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. 

As far as Coilantogle's ford ; 

From thence thy warrant is thy sword.' 

* I take thy courtesy, by heaven. 

As freely as 't is nobly given ! ' 790 

* Well, rest thee ; for the bittern's cry 
Sings us the lake's wild lullaby.' 

With that he shook the gathered heath. 
And spread his plaid upon the wreath ; 
And the brave foemen, side by side, 
Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, 
And slept until the dawning beam 
Purpled the mountain and the stream. 




BETWEEN DUNCRAGGAN AND LANRICK. 



CANTO FIFTH. 



THE COMBAT. 



I. 



Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, 

When first, by the bewildered pilgrim spied, 
It smiles upon the dreary brow of night, 

And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide, 
And lights the fearful path on mountain-side, — 

Fair as that beam, although the fairest far, 
Giving to horror grace, to danger pride. 

Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star. 
Through all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow of War. 



n. 



That early beam, so fair and sheen, 
Was twinkling through the hazel screen, 



wo 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. US 

When, rousing at its glimmer red, 

The warriors left their lowly bed, 

Looked out upon the dappled sky, 

Muttered their soldier matins by, 

And then awaked their fire, to steal, 

xA.s short and rude, their soldier meal. 

That o'er, the Gael around him threw 

His graceful plaid of varied hue. 

And, true to promise, led the way, ao 

By thicket green and mountain gray. 

A wildering path ! — they winded now 

Along the precipice's brow. 

Commanding the rich scenes beneath, 

The windings of the Forth and Teith, 

And all the vales between that lie. 

Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky ; 

Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance 

Gained not the length of horseman's lance, 

'T was oft so steep, the foot was fain 30 

Assistance from the hand to gain ; 

So tangled oft that, bursting through. 

Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew, — 

That diamond dew, so pure and clear, 

It rivals all but Beauty's tear ! 



III. 

At length they came where, stern and steep, 

The hill sinks down upon the deep. 

Here Vennachar in silver flows. 

There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose ; 

Ever the hollow path twined on, 40 

Beneath steep bank and threatening stone ; 

A hundred men might hold the post 

With hardihood against a host. 



Ii6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto v. 

The rugged mountain's scanty cloak 

Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak, 

With shingles bare, and cliffs between, 

And patches bright of bracken green. 

And heather black, that waved so high. 

It held the copse in rivalry. 

But where the lake slept deep and still, so 

Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill ; 

And oft both path and hill were torn, 

Where wintry torrent down had borne. 

And heaped upon the cumbered land 

Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. 

So toilsome was the road to trace, 

The guide, abating of his pace. 

Led slowly through the pass's jaws, 

And asked Fitz-James by what strange cause 

He sought these wilds, traversed by few, 60 

Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. 



IV. 

* Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried. 
Hangs in my belt and by my side ; 
Yet, sooth to tell,' the Saxon said, 

' I dreamt not now to claim its aid. 

When here, but three days since, I came, 

Bewildered in pursuit of game. 

All seemed as peaceful and as still 

As the mist slumbering on yon hill; 

Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, 70 

Nor soon expected back from war. 

Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide. 

Though deep perchance the villain hed.' 

* Yet why a second venture try ? ' 

* A warrior thou, and ask me why ! — 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. I17 

Moves our free course by such fixed cause 

As gives the poor mechanic laws ? 

Enough, I sought to drive away 

The lazy hours of peaceful day ; 

Slight cause will then suffice to guide 80 

A Knight's free footsteps far and wide, — 

A falcon flown, a greyhound strayed, 

The merry glance of mountain maid ; 

Or, if a path be dangerous known. 

The danger's self is lure alone/ 



V. 

' Thy secret keep, I urge thee not ; — 

Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, 

Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war. 

Against Clan- Alpine, raised by Mar ? ' 

' No, by my word ; — of bands prepared 90 

To guard King James's sports I heard ; 

Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear 

This muster of the mountaineer, 

Their pennons will abroad be flung. 

Which else in Doune had peaceful hung.' 

' Free be they flung ! for we were loath 

Their silken folds should feast the moth. 

Free be they flung ! — as free shall wave 

Clan-Alpine's pine in banner brave. 

But, stranger, peaceful since you came, ioq 

Bewildered in the mountain-game. 

Whence the bold boast by which you show 

Vich- Alpine's vowed and mortal foe ? ' 

' Warrior, but yester-morn I knew 

Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 

Save as an outlawed desperate man. 

The chief of a rebellious clan. 



Il8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto \ 

Who, in the Regent's court and sight, 

With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight ; 

Yet this alone might from his part no 

Sever each true and loyal heart.' 



VI. 

Wrathful at such arraignment foul, 

Dark lowered the clansman's sable scowl. 

A space he paused, then sternly said, 

' And heardst thou why he drew his blade ? 

Heardst thou that shameful word and blow 

Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe? 

What recked the Chieftain if he stood 

On Highland heath or Holy-Rood? 

He rights such wrong where it is given, 120 

If it were in the court of heaven.' 

' Still was it outrage ; — yet, 't is true, 

Not then claimed sovereignty his due ; 

While Albany with feeble hand 

Held borrowed truncheon of command. 

The young King, mewed in Stirhng tower, 

Was stranger to respect and power. 

But then, thy Chieftain's robber life ! — 

Winning mean prey by causeless strife. 

Wrenching from ruined Lowland swain 130 

His herds and harvest reared in vain, — 

Methinks a soul like thine should scorn 

The spoils from such foul foray borne.' 

VII. 

The Gael beh^^d him grim the while. 
And answered with disdainful smile : 
* Saxon, from yonder mountain high, 
I marked thee send delighted eye 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 119 

Far to the south and east, where lay, 

Extended in succession gay, 

Deep waving fields and pastures green, i4<» 

With gentle slopes and groves between \ — ' 

These fertile plains, that softened vale, 

Were once the birthright of the Gael ; 

The stranger came with iron hand, 

And from our fathers reft the land. 

Where dwell we now ? See, rudely swell 

Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. 

Ask we this savage hill we tread 

For fattened steer or household bread, 

Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, 1,50 

And well the mountain might reply, — 

" To you, as to your sires of yore. 

Belong the target and claymore ! 

I give you shelter in my breast, 

Your own good blades must win the rest." 

Pent in this fortress of the North, 

Think'st thou we will not sally forth. 

To spoil the spoiler as we may. 

And from the robber rend the prey? 

Ay, by my soul ! — While on yon plain 160 

The Saxon rears one shock of grain. 

While of ten thousand herds there strays 

But one along yon river's maze, — 

The Gael, of plain and river heir. 

Shall with strong hand redeem his share. 

Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold 

That plundering Lowland field and fold 

Is aught but retribution true ? 

Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu.' 

VIII. 

Answered Fitz-James : ^ And, if I sought, 170 

Think'st thou no other could be brought ? 



120 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANTO V. 

What deem ye of my path waylaid ? 

My life given o'er to ambuscade ? ' 

'As of a meed to rashness due : 

Hadst thou sent warning fair and true, — 

I seek my hound or falcon strayed, 

I seek, good faith, a Highland maid, — 

Free hadst thou been to come and go ; 

But secret path marks secret foe. 

Nor yet for this, even as a spy, 180 

Hadst thou, unheard, been doomed to die, 

Save to fulfil an augury.' 

' Well, let it pass ; nor will I now 

Fresh cause of enmity avow. 

To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. 

Enough, I am by promise tied 

To match me with this man of pride : 

Twice have I sought Clan-Alpine's glen 

In peace ; but when I come again, 

I come with banner, brand, and bow, 190 

As leader seeks his mortal foe. 

For love-lorn swain in lady's bower 

Ne'er panted for the appointed hour, 

As I, until before me stand 

This rebel Chieftain and his band ! ' 



IX. 

* Have then thy wish ! ' — He whistled shrill, 
And he was answered from the hill ; 
Wild as the scream of the curlew. 
From crag to crag the signal flew. 
Instant, through copse and heath, arose 
Bonnets and spears and bended bows ; 
On right, on left, above, below. 
Sprung up at once the lurking foe ; 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 121 

From shingles gray their lances start, 

The bracken bush sends forth the dart, 

The rushes and the willow-wand 

Are bristling into axe and brand, 

And every tuft of broom gives life 

To plaided warrior armed for strife. 

That whistle garrisoned the glen 210 

At once with full five hundred men, 

As if the yawning hill to heaven 

A subterranean host had given. 

Watching their leader's beck and will, 

All silent there they stood and still. 

Like the loose crags whose threatening mass 

Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, 

As if an infant's touch could urge 

Their headlong passage down the verge, 

With step and weapon forward flung, mo 

Upon the mountain- side they hung. 

The Mountaineer cast glance of pride 

Along Benledi's living side, 

Then fixed his eye and sable brow 

Full on Fitz- James : * How say'st thou now? 

These are Clan- Alpine's warriors true ; 

And, Saxon, — I am Roderick Dhu ! ' 



X. 

Fitz-James was brave : — though to his heart 

The life-blood thrilled with sudden start, 

He manned himself with dauntless air, 230 

Returned the Chief his haughty stare. 

His back against a rock he bore. 

And firmly placed his foot before : — 

^ Come one, come all ! this rock shall fly 

From its firm base as soon as I.' 



122 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto v. 

Sir Roderick marked, — and in his eyes 

Respect was mingled with surprise, 

And the stern joy which warriors feel 

In foeman worthy of their steel. 

Short space he stood — then waved his hand : 240 

Down sunk the disappearing band ; 

Each warrior vanished where he stood, 

In broom or bracken, heath or wood ; 

Sunk brand and spear and bended bow, 

In osiers pale and copses low ; 

It seemed as if their mother Earth 

Had swallowed up her warlike birth. 

The wind's last breath had tossed in air 

Pennon and plaid and plumage fair, — 

The next but swept a lone hill- side, 250 

Where heath and fern were waving wide : 

The sun's last glance was glinted back 

From spear and glaive, from targe and jack, — 

The next, all unreflected, shone 

On bracken green and cold gray stone. 

XI. 

Fitz-James looked round, — yet scarce believed 

The witness that his sight received ; 

Such apparition well might seem 

Delusion of a dreadful dream. 

Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, 360 

And to his look the Chief replied : 

* Fear naught — nay, that I need not say — 

But — doubt not aught from mine array. 

Thou art my guest ; — I pledged my word 

As far as Coilantogle ford : 

Nor would I call a clansman's brand 

For aid against one valiant hand. 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 1 23 

Though on our strife lay every vale 

Rent by the Saxon from the Gael. 

So move we on ; — I only meant 270 

To show the reed on which you leant, 

Deeming this path you might pursue 

Without a pass from Roderick Dhu.' 

They moved ; — I said Fitz-James was brave 

As ever knight that belted glaive, 

Yet dare not say that now his blood 

Kept on its wont and tempered flood. 

As, following Roderick's stride, he drew 

That seeming lonesome pathway through. 

Which yet by fearful proof was rife 280 

With lances, that, to take his life, 

Waited but signal from a guide, 

So late dishonored and defied. 

Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round 

The vanished guardians of the ground. 

And still from copse and heather deep 

Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep. 

And in the plover's shrilly strain 

The signal whistle heard again. 

Nor breathed he free till far behind 290 

The pass was left j for then they wind 

Along a wide and level green. 

Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, 

Nor rush nor bush of broom was near. 

To hide a bonnet or a spear. 



XII. 

The Chief in silence strode before, 
And reached that torrent's sounding shore, 
Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, 
From Vennachar in silver breaks, 



124 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANTO V. 

Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines 300 

On Bochastle the mouldering lines, 

Where Rome, the Empress of the world, 

Of yore her eagle wings unfurled. 

And here his course the Chieftain stayed, 

Threw down his target and his plaid, 

And to the Lowland warrior said : 

' Bold Saxon ! to his promise just, 

Vich- Alpine has discharged his trust. 

This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, 

This head of a rebellious clan, 310 

Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, 

Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. 

Now, man to man, and steel to steel, 

A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. 

See, here all vantageless I stand. 

Armed like thyself with single brand ; 

For this is Coilantogle ford, 

And thou must keep thee with thy sword.* 

XIII. 

The Saxon paused : ' I ne'er delayed, 

When foeman bade me draw my blade ; sto 

Nay more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death \ 

Yet sure thy fair and generous faith. 

And my deep debt for life preserved, 

A better meed have well deserved : 

Can naught but blood our feud atone ? 

Are there no means ? ' — ' No, stranger, none 1 

And hear, — to fire thy flagging zeal, — 

The Saxon cause rests on thy steel ; 

For thus spoke Fate by prophet bred 

Between the living and the dead : )3« 

" Who spills the foremost foeman's life, 

His party conquers in the strife." ' 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 125 

* Then, by my word/ the Saxon said, 

*The riddle is already read. 

Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff, — 

There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. 

Thus Fate hath solved her prophecy ; 

Then yield to Fate, and not to me. 

To James at Stirling let us go. 

When, if thou wilt be still his foe, 340 

Or if the King shall not agree 

To grant thee grace and favor free, 

I plight mine honor, oath, and word 

That, to thy native strengths restored, 

With each advantage shalt thou stand 

That aids thee now to guard thy land.' 



XIV. 

Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye : 

' Soars thy presumption, then, so high. 

Because a wretched kern ye slew. 

Homage to name to Roderick Dhu? 350 

He yields not, he, to man nor Fate ! 

Thou add'st but fuel to my hate ; — 

My clansman's blood demands revenge. 

Not yet prepared ? — By heaven, I change 

My thought, and hold thy valor light 

As that of some vain carpet knight, 

Who ill deserved my courteous care. 

And whose best boast is but to wear 

A braid of his fair lady's hair.' 

' I thank thee, Roderick, for the word ! 369 

It nerves my heart, it steels my sword ; 

For I have sworn this braid to stain 

In the best blood that warms thy vein. 

Now, truce, farewell ! and, ruth, begone ! — 



126 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto v. 

Yet think not that by thee alone, 

Proud Chief ! can courtesy be shown ; 

Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn, 

Start at my whistle clansmen stern, 

Of this small horn one feeble blast 

Would fearful odds against thee cast. 370 

But fear not — doubt not — which thou wilt — 

We try this quarrel hilt to hilt.' 

Then each at once his falchion drew, 

Each on the .ground his scabbard threw, 

Each looked to sun and stream and plain 

As what they ne'er might see again ; 

Then foot and point and eye opposed, 

In dubious strife they darkly closed. 



XV. 

Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu, 

That on the field his targe he threw, 380 

Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide 

Had death so often dashed aside ; 

For, trained abroad his arms to wield, 

Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. 

He practised every pass and ward. 

To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard ; 

While less expert, though stronger far, 

The Gael maintained unequal war. 

Three times in closing strife they stood. 

And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood \ 390 

No stinted draught, no scanty tide, 

The gushing flood the tartans dyed. 

Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain. 

And showered his blows like wintry rain ; 

And, as firm rock or castle-roof 

Against the winter shower is proof, 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 137 

The foe, invulnerable still, 

Foiled his wild rage by steady skill; 

Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand 

Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, 400 

And backward borne upon the lea. 

Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. 



XVI. 

* Now yield thee, or by Him who made 

The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade ! * 

' Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy ! 

Let recreant yield, who fears to die.' 

Like adder darting from his coil, 

Like wolf that dashes through the toil. 

Like mountain- cat who guards her young, 

Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung ; 410 

Received, but recked not of a wound. 

And locked his arms his foeman round. ■ — 

Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own ! 

No maiden's hand is round thee thrown ! 

That desperate grasp thy frame might feel 

Through bars of brass and triple steel ! 

They tug, they strain ! down, down they go, 

The Gael above, Fitz-James below. 

The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, 

His knee was planted on his breast ; 4ap 

His clotted locks he backward threw, 

Across his brow his hand he drew, 

From blood and mist to clear his sight. 

Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright ! 

But hate and fury ill supplied 

The stream of life's exhausted tide, 

And all too late the advantage came, 

To turn the odds of deadly game ; 



128 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANTO v. 

For, while the dagger gleamed on high, 

Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. 430 

Down came the blow ! but in the heath 

The erring blade found bloodless sheath. 

The struggling foe may now unclasp 

The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp ; 

Unwounded froni the dreadful close, 

But breathless all, Fitz- James arose. 



XVII. 

He faltered thanks to Heaven for life, 
Redeemed, unhoped, from desperate strife ; 
Next on his foe his look he cast, 
Whose every gasp appeared his last ; 440 

In Roderick's gore he dipped the braid, — 

* Poor Blanche I thy wrongs are dearly paid ; 
Yet with thy foe must die, or live, 

The praise that faith and valor give.' 

With that he blew a bugle note, 

Undid the collar from his throat, 

Unbonneted, and by the wave 

Sat down his brow and hands to lave. 

Then faint afar are heard the feet 

Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet ; 45* 

The sounds increase, and now are seen 

Four mounted squires in Lincoln green ; 

Two who bear lance, and two who lead 

By loosened rein a saddled steed ; 

Each onward held his headlong course. 

And by Fitz-James reined up his horse, — 

With wonder viewed the bloody spot, — 

* Exclaim not, gallants ! question not. — 
You, Herbert and Luffness, alight. 

And bind the wounds of yonder knight ; 46* 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 129 

Let the gray palfrey bear his weight, 
We destined for a fairer freight, 
And bring him on to Stirhng straight ; 
I will before at better speed, 
To seek fresh horse and fitting weed. 
The sun rides high -, — I must be boune 
To see the archer-game at noon ; 
But lightly Bayard clears the lea. — 
De Vaux and Herries, follow me. 

XVIII. 

' Stand, Bayard, stand ! ' — the steed obeyed, 47» 

With arching neck and bended head, 

And glancing eye and quivering ear, 

As if he loved his lord to hear. 

No foot Fitz- James in stirrup stayed, 

No gi-asp upon the saddle laid. 

But wreathed his left hand in the mane, 

And lightly bounded from the plain. 

Turned on the horse his armed heel. 

And stirred his courage with the steel. 

Bounded the fiery steed in air, 480 

The rider sat erect and fair. 

Then like a bolt from steel crossbow 

Forth launched, along the plain they go. 

They dashed that rapid torrent through, 

And up Carhonie's hill they flew; 

Still at the gallop pricked the Knight, 

His merrymen followed as they might. 

Along thy banks, swift Teith ! they ride. 

And in the race they mock thy tide ; 

Torry and Lendrick now are past, 490 

And Deanstown lies behind them cast ; 

They rise, the bannered towers of Doune, 

They sink in distant woodland soon ; 



130 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO V. 





STIRLING CASTLE. 



Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire, 
They sweep like breeze througli Ochtertyre ; 
They mark just glance and. disappear 
The lofty brow of ancient Kier ; 
They bathe their coursers' sweltering sides, 
Dark Forth ! amid thy sluggish tides, 
And on the opposing shore take ground, 
With plash, with scramble, and with bound. 
Right-hand they leave thy cliffs, Craig- Forth ! 
And soon the bulwark of the North, 
Gray Stirling, with her towers and town, 
Upon their fleet career looked down. 



5<>- 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. tS^ 

XIX. 

As up the flinty path they strained, 

Sudden his steed the leader reined \ 

A signal to his squire he flung, 

Who instant to his stirrup sprung : — 

^ Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, s^o 

Who townward holds the rocky way. 

Of stature tall and poor array ? 

Mark' St thou the firm, yet active stride, 

With which he scales the mountain- side ? 

Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom ? ' 

' No, by my word ; — a burly groom 

He seems, who in the field or chase 

A baron's train would nobly grace — ' 

' Out, out, De Vaux ! can fear supply, 

And jealousy, no sharper eye ? 520 

Afar, ere to the hill he drew. 

That stately form and step I knew ; 

Like form in Scotland is not seen. 

Treads not such step on Scottish green. 

'T is James of Douglas, by Saint Serle ! 

The uncle of the banished Earl. 

Away, away, to court, to show 

The near approach of dreaded foe : 

The King must stand upon his guard ; 

Douglas and he must meet prepared.' 53° 

Then right-hand wheeled their steeds, and straight 

They won the Castle's postern gate. 

XX. 

The Douglas, who had bent his way 
From Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray, 
Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, 
Held sad communion with himself : — 



t^i THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto v. 

* Yes ! all is true my fears could frame ; 

A prisoner lies the noble Graeme, 

And fiery Roderick soon will feel 

The vengeance of the royal steel. S4t> 

I, only I, can ward their fate, — 

God grant the ransom come not late ! 

The Abbess hath her promise given, 

My child shall be the bride of Heaven ; — 

Be pardoned one repining tear ! 

For He who gave her knows how dear, 

How excellent ! — but that is by, 

And now my business is — to die. — 

Ye towers ! within whose circuit dread 

A Douglas by his sovereign bled ; 550 

And thou, O sad and fatal mound ! 

That oft hast heard the death-axe sound, 

As on the noblest of the land 

Fell the stern headsman's bloody hand, — 

The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb 

Prepare — for Douglas seeks his doom ! 

But hark ! what blithe and jolly peal 

Makes the Franciscan steeple reel? 

And see ! upon the crowded street. 

In motley groups what masquers meet ! 560 

Banner and pageant, pipe and drum. 

And merry morrice-dancers come. 

I guess, by all this quaint array. 

The burghers hold their sports to-day. 

James will be there ; he loves such show. 

Where the good yeoman bends his bow, 

And the tough wrestler foils his foe, 

As well as where, in proud career. 

The high-born tilter shivers spear. 

I '11 follow to the Castle-park, 570 

And play my prize ; — King James shall mark 

If age has tamed these sinews stark, 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 133 

Whose force so oft in happier days 
His boyish wonder loved to praise.' 

XXI. 

The Castle gates were open flung, 
The quivering drawbridge rocked and rung, 
And echoed loud the flinty street 
Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, 
« As slowly down the steep descent 

Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, sSo 

While all along the crowded way 

Was jubilee and loud huzza. 

And ever James was bending low 

To his white jennet's saddle-bow, 

Doffing his cap to city dame, 

Who smiled and blushed for pride and shame. 

And well the simperer might be vain, — 

He chose the fairest of the train. 

Gravely he greets each city sire, 

Commends each pageant's quaint attire, 590 

Gives to the dancers thanks aloud, 

And smiles and nods upon the crowd, 

Who rend the heavens with their acclaims, — 

' Long live the Commons' King, King James ! ' 

Behind the King thronged peer and knight, 

And noble dame and damsel bright, 

Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay 

Of the steep street and crowded way. 

But in the train you might discern 

Dark lowering brow and visage stern ; 600 

There nobles mourned their pride restrained, 

And the mean burgher's joys disdained ; 

And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan, 

Were each from home a banished man, 

There thought upon their own gray tower, 



134 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto v. 

Their waving woods, their feudal power, 
And deemed themselves a shameful part 
Of pageant which they cursed in heart. 

XXII. 

Now, in the Castle-park, drew out 

Their checkered bands the joyous rout. 61© 

There morricers, with bell at heel ^ 

And blade in hand, their mazes wheel ; 

But chief, beside the butts, there stand 

Bold Robin Hood and all his band, — 

Friar Tuck with quarterstaff and cowl, 

Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, 

Maid Marian, fair as ivory bone, 

Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John ; 

Their bugles challenge all that will, 

In archery to prove their skill. 620 

The Douglas bent a bow of might, — 

His first shaft centred in the white, 

And when in turn he shot again, 

His second split the first in twain. 

From the King's hand must Douglas take 

A silver dart, the archers' stake ; 

Fondly he watched, with watery eye. 

Some answering glance of sympathy, — 

No kind emotion made reply ! 

Indifferent as to archer wight, 630 

The monarch gave the arrow bright. 

XXIII. 

Now, clear the ring ! for, hand to hand, 
The manly wrestlers take their stand. 
Two o'er the rest superior rose. 
And proud demanded mightier foes, — 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 135 

Nor called in vain, for Douglas came. — 
For life is Hugh of Larbert lame ; 
Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, 
Whom senseless home his comrades bare. 
Prize of the wrestling match, the King 640 

To Douglas gave a golden ring, 
. While coldly glanced his eye of blue, 
As frozen drop of wintry dew. 
Douglas would speak, but in his breast 
His struggling soul his words suppressed ; 
Indignant then he turned him where 
Their arms the brawny yeomen bare, 
To hurl the massive bar in air. 
When each his utmost strength had shown, 
The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone 650 

From its deep bed, then heaved it high, 
And sent the fragment through the sky 
A rood beyond the farthest mark ; 
And still in Stirling's royal park, 
' The gray-haired sires, who know the past, 

To strangers point the Douglas cast, 
And morahze on the decay 
Of Scottish strength in modern day. 

XXIV. 

The vale with loud applauses rang. 

The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang. 660 

The King, with look unmoved, bestowed 

A purse well filled with pieces broad. 

Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, 

And threw the gold among the crowd, 

Who now with anxious wonder scan, 

And sharper glance, the dark gray man ; 

Till whispers rose among the throng, 

That heart so free, and hand so strong, 

Must to the Douglas blood belong. 



136 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, canto v. 

The old men marked and shook the head, 670 

To see his hair with silver spread, 

And winked aside, and told each son 

Of feats upon the English done, 

Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand 

Was exiled from his native land. 

The women praised his stately form, 

Though wrecked by many a winter's storm ; 

The youth with awe and wonder saw 

His strength surpassing Nature's law. 

Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd, 680 

Till murmurs rose to clamors loud. 

But not a glance from that proud ring 

Of peers who circled round the King 

With Douglas held communion kind, 

Or called the banished man to mind ; 

No, not from those who at the chase 

Once held his side the honored place, 

Begirt his board, and in the field 

Found safety underneath his shield ; 

For he whom royal eyes disown, 69* 

When was his form to courtiers known ! 



XXV. 

The Monarch saw the gambols flag. 

And bade let loose a gallant stag. 

Whose pride, the holiday to crown. 

Two favorite greyhounds should pull down, 

That venison free and Bourdeaux wine 

Might serve the archery to dine. 

But Lufra, — whom from Douglas' side 

Nor bribe nor threat could e'er divide. 

The fleetest hound in all the North, — 700 

Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 137 

She left the royal hounds midway, 

And dashing on the antlered prey, 

Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank, 

And deep the flowing Hfe-blood drank. 

The King's stout huntsman saw the sport 

By strange ii truder broken short, 

Came up, and with his leash unbound 

In anger struck the noble hound. 

The Douglas had endured, that morn, 7J« 

The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn, 

And last, and worst to spirit proud, 

Had borne the pity of the crowd ; 

But Lufra had been fondly bred, 

To share his board, to watch his bed, 

And oft would Ellen Lufra's neck 

In maiden glee with garlands deck ; 

They were such playmates that with name 

Of Lufra Ellen's image came. 

His stifled wrath is brimming high, 72* 

In darkened brow and flashing eye ; 

As waves before the bark divide, 

The crowd gave way before his stride ; 

Needs but a buffet and no more. 

The groom Hes senseless in his gore. 

Such blow no other hand could deal, 

Though gauntleted in glove of steel. 



XXVI. 

Then clamored loud the royal train, 

And brandished swords and staves amain, 

But stern the Baron's warning : ' Back ! n* 

Back, on your lives, ye menial pack ! 

Beware the Douglas. — Yes ! behold, 

King James ! The Douglas, doomed of old, 



138 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANTO V. 

And vainly sought for near and far, 

A victim to atone the war, 

A willing victim, now attends, 

Nor craves thy grace but for his friends. — * 

' Thus is my clemency repaid ? 

Presumptuous Lord ! ' the Monarch said : 

* Of thy misproud ambitious clan, ^4* 

Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man. 

The only man, in whom a foe 

My woman-mercy would not know ; 

But shall a Monarch's presence brook 

Injurious blow and haughty look? — 

What ho ! the Captain of our Guard ! 

Give the offender fitting ward. — 

Break off the sports ! ' — for tumult rose, 

And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, — 

' Break off the sports ! ' he said and frowned, 750 

'And bid our horsemen clear the ground.' 

xxvii. 

Then uproar wild and misan-ay 

Marred the fair form of festal day. 

The horsemen pricked among the crowd, 

Repelled by threats and insult loud ; 

To earth are borne the old and weak, 

The timorous fly, the women shriek ; 

With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, 

The hardier urge tumultuous war. 

At once round Douglas darkly sweep 760 

The royal spears in circle deep. 

And slowly scale the pathway steep, 

While on the rear in thunder pour 

The rabble with disordered roar. 

With grief the noble Douglas saw 

The Commons rise against the law, 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT, i^9 

And to the leading soldier said : 

* Sir John of Hyndford, 't was my blade 
That knighthood on thy shoulder laid ; 

For that good deed permit me then 770 

A word with these misguided men. — 

XXVIII. 

* Hear, gentle friends, ere yet for me 
Ye break the bands of fealty. 

My life, my honor, and my cause, 

I tender free to Scotland's laws. 

Are these so weak as must require 

The aid of your misguided ire ? 

Or if I sufter causeless wrong, 

Is then my selfish rage so strong. 

My sense of public weal so low, 780 

That, for mean vengeance on a foe. 

Those cords of love I should unbind 

Which knit my country and my kind ? 

O no ! Beheve, in yonder tower 

It will not soothe my captive hour, 

To know those spears our foes should dread 

For me in kindred gore are red : 

To know, in fruitless brawl begun. 

For me that mother wails her son. 

For me that widow's mate expires, 790 

For me that orphans weep their sires, 

That patriots mourn insulted laws. 

And curse the Douglas for the cause. 

O let your patience ward such ill, 

And keep your right to love me still ! ' 

XXIX. 

The crowd's wild fury sunk again 
In tears, as tempests melt in rain. 



t40 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto v. 

With lifted hands and eyes, they prayed 

For blessings on his generous head 

Who for his country felt alone, loa 

And prized her blood beyond his own. 

Old men upon the verge of life 

Blessed him who stayed the civil strife ; 

And mothers held their babes on high, 

The self-devoted Chief to spy, 

Triumphant over wrongs and ire. 

To whom the prattlers owed a sire. 

Even the rough soldier's heart was moved ; 

As if behind some bier beloved, 

With trailing arms and drooping head, s» 

The Douglas up the hill he led. 

And at the Castle's battled verge. 

With sighs resigned his honored charge. 



XXX. 

The offended Monarch rode apart, 

With bitter thought and swelling heart, 

And would not now vouchsafe again 

Through Stirling streets to lead his train. . 

' O Lennox, who would wish to rule 

This changeling crowd, this common fool ? 

Hear'st thou,' he said, ' the loud acclaim Sao 

With which they shout the Douglas name ? 

With like acclaim the vulgar throat 

Strained for King James their morning note \ 

With hke acclaim they hailed the day 

When first I broke the Douglas sway ; 

And like acclaim would Douglas greet 

If he could hurl me from my seat. 

Who o'er the herd would wish to reign, 

Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? 



CANTO V. 



THE COMBAT. 



141 




Vain as the leaf upon the stream, 
And fickle as a changeful dream ; 
Fantastic as a woman's mood, 
And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood. 
Thou many-headed monster-thing, 
O who would wish to be thy king ? — 



830 



XXXI. 



* But soft ! what messenger of speed 
Spurs hitherward his panting steed? 
I guess his cognizance afar -— 
What from our cousin, John of Mar ? ' 



142 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto v. 

' He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound 840 

Within the safe and guarded ground ; 

For some foul purpose yet unknown, — 

Most sure for evil to the throne, — 

The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 

Has summoned his rebellious crew ; 

'T is said, in James of Bothwell's aid 

These loose banditti stand arrayed. 

The Earl of Mar this morn from Doune 

To break their muster marched, and soon 

Your Grace will hear of battle fought ; 850 

But earnestly the Earl besought. 

Till for such danger he provide. 

With scanty train you will not ride.* 

XXXII. 

' Thou warn' St me I have done amiss, — 

I should have earlier looked to this ; 

I lost it in this bustling day. — 

Retrace with speed thy former way ; 

Spare not for spoiling of thy steed. 

The best of mine shall be thy meed. 

Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, 860 

We do forbid the intended war ; 

Roderick this morn in single fight 

Was made our prisoner by a knight, 

And Douglas hath himself and cause 

Submitted to our kingdom's laws. 

The tidings of their leaders lost 

Will soon dissolve the mountain host, 

Nor would we that the vulgar feel, 

For their Chief's crimes, avenging steel. 

Bear Mar our message, Braco, fly ! ' 8j» 

He turned his steed, — ' My liege, I hie, 



CANTO V. THE COMBAT. 143 

Yet ere I cross this lily lawn 
I fear the broadswords will be drawn.' 
The turf the flying courser spumed, 
And to his towers the King returned. 

XXXIII. 

Ill with King James's mood that day 

Suited gay feast and minstrel lay ; 

Soon were dismissed the courtly throng, 

And soon cut short the festal song. 

Nor less upon the saddened town 880 

The evening sunk in sorrow down. 

The burghers spoke of civil jar, 

Of rumored feuds and mountain war. 

Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, 

All up in arms ; — the Douglas too. 

They mourned him pent within the hold, 

* Where stout Earl William was of old.' — 

And there his word the speaker stayed, 

And finger on his lip he laid, 

Or pointed to his dagger blade. 890 

But jaded horsemen from the west 

At evening to the Castle pressed, 

And busy talkers said they bore 

Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore ; 

At noon the deadly fray begun. 

And lasted till the set of sun. 

Thus giddy rumor shook the town, 

Till closed the Night her pennons brown. 





THE OLD BRIDGE AT CALLANDER. 



CANTO SIXTH. 



THE GUARD-ROOM. 



The sun, awakening, through the smoky air 

Of the dark city casts a sullen glance, 
Rousing each caitiff to his task of care, 

Of sinful man the sad inheritance ; 
Summoning revellers from the lagging dance, 

Scaring the prowling robber to his den ; 
Gilding on battled tower the warder's lance, 

And warning student pale to leave his pen, 
And yield his drowsy eyes to the kind nurse of men. 



cANto Vi. THE GUARD-kOOM. 145 

What various scenes, and O, what scenes of woe, 10 

Are witnessed by that red and struggling beam 1 
The fevered patient, from his pallet low. 

Through crowded hospital beholds it stream ; 
The ruined maiden trembles at its gleam, 

The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail. 
The love-lorn wretch starts from tormenting dream ; 

The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale. 
Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble wail. 

11. 

At dawn the towers of Stirling rang 

With soldier- step and weapon- clang, 20 

While drums with rolling note foretell 

Relief to weary sentinel. 

Through narrow loop and casement barred, 

The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, 

And, struggling with the smoky air, 

Deadened the torches' yellow glare. 

In comfortless alliance shone 

The lights through arch of blackened stone, 

And showed wild shapes in garb of war. 

Faces deformed with beard and scar, 30 

All haggard from the midnight watch. 

And fevered with the stern debauch ; 

For the oak table's massive board. 

Flooded with wine, with fragments stored, 

And beakers drained, and cups o'erthrown, 

Showed in what sport the night had flown. 

Some, weary, snored on floor and bench ; 

Some labored still their thirst to quench ; 

Some, chilled with watching, spread their hands 

O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, 40 

While round them, or beside them flung, 

At every step their harness rung. 



146 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO VI. 



m. 

These drew not for their fields the sword, 

Like tenants of a feudal lord, 

Nor owned the patriarchal claim 

Of Chieftain in their leader's name ; 

Adventurers they, from far who roved, 

To live by battle which they loved. 

There the Italian's clouded face. 

The swarthy Spaniard's there you trace ; «;o 

The mountain-loving Switzer there 

More freely breathed in mountain-air ; 

The Fleming there despised the soil 

That paid so ill the laborer's toil ; 

Their rolls showed French and German name ; 

And merry England's exiles came. 

To share, with ill-concealed disdain, 

Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. 

All brave in arms, well trained to wield 

The heavy halberd, brand, and shield ; 60 

In camps Hcentious, wild, and bold ; 

In pillage fierce and uncontrolled ; 

And now, by holytide and feast. 

From rules of discipline released. 

IV. 

They held debate of bloody fray. 

Fought 'twixt Loch Katrine and Achray. 

Fierce was their speech, and mid their words 

Their hands oft grappled to their swords ; 

Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear 

Of wounded comrades groaning near, 76 

Whose mangled limbs and bodies gored 

Bore token of the mountain sword, 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 147 

Though, neighboring to the Court of Guard, 

Their prayers and feverish wails were heard, — 

Sad burden to the ruffian joke, 

And savage oath by fury spoke ! — 

At length up started John of Brent, 

A yeoman from the banks of Trent ; 

A stranger to respect or fear, 

In peace a chaser of the deer, 80 

In host a hardy mutineer, 

But still the boldest of the crew 

When deed of danger was to do. 

He grieved that day their games cut short, 

And marred the dicer's brawling sport, 

And shouted loud, ' Renew the bowl ! 

And, while a merry catch I troll, 

Let each the buxom chorus bear, 

Like brethren of the brand and spear.* 

V. 

soldier's song. 

Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule go 

Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl. 
That there 's wrath and despair in the jolly black-jack, 
And the seven deadly sins in a flagon of sack ; 
Yet whoop, Barnaby ! off with thy liquor. 
Drink upsees out, and a fig for the vicar ! 

Our vicar he calls it damnation to sip 

The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip, 

Says that Beelzebub lurks in her kerchief so sly, 

And Apollyon shoots darts from her merry black eye ; 

Yet whoop. Jack ! kiss Gillian the quicker, 100 

Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar I 



148 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. cantq vi. 

Our vicar thus preaches, — and why should he not ? 
For the dues of his cure are the placket and pot ; 
And 't is right of his office poor laymen to lurch 
Who infringe the domains of our good Mother Church. 
Yet whoop, bully-boys ! off with your liquor, 
Sweet Marjorie 's the word, and a fig for the vicar ! 

VI. 

The warder's challenge, heard without, 

Stayed in mid-roar the merry shout. 

A soldier to the portal went, — ^lo 

^ Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent ; 

And — beat for jubilee the drum ! — 

A maid and minstrel with him come.' 

Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarred. 

Was entering now the Court of Guard, 

A harper with him, and, in plaid 

All muffled close, a mountain maid, 

Who backward shrunk to 'scape the view 

Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. 

* What news ? ' they roared : — ^ I only know, 120 
From noon till eve we fought with foe, 

As wild and as untamable 

As the rude mountains where they dwell ; 

On both sides store of blood is lost. 

Nor much success can either boast.' — 

' But whence thy captives, friend ? such spoil 

As theirs must needs reward thy toil. 

Old dost thou wax, and wars grow sharp ; 

Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp ! 

Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, 130 

The leader of a juggler band.' 

VII. 

* No, comrade ; — no such fortune mine. 
After the fight these sought our line, 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 149 

That aged harper and the girl, 

And, having audience of the Earl, 

Mar bade I should purvey them steed. 

And bring them hitherward with speed. 

Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, 

For none shall do them shame or harm. — ' 

* Hear ye his boast ? ' cried John of Bi ent, 140 
Ever to strife and jangling bent ; 

* Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, 
And yet the jealous niggard grudge 
To pay the forester his fee ? 

I '11 have my share howe'er it be, 

Despite of Moray, Mar, or thee.' 

Bertram his forward step withstood ; 

And, burning in his vengeful mood, 

Old Allan, though unfit for strife. 

Laid hand upon his dagger-knife ; 150 

But Ellen boldly stepped between. 

And dropped at once the tartan screen : — 

So, from his morning cloud, appears 

The sun of May through summer tears. 

The savage soldiery, amazed. 

As on descended angel gazed ; 

Even hardy Brent, abashed and tamed. 

Stood half admiring, half ashamed. 

VIII. 

Boldly she spoke : ' Soldiers, attend ! 

My father was the soldier's friend, 160 

Cheered him in camps, in marches led, 

And with him in the battle bled. 

Not from the valiant or the strong 

Should exile's daughter suffer wrong.' 

Answered De Brent, most forward still 

In every feat or good or ill ; - 



150 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 

' I shame me of the part I played ; 

And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid ! 

An outlaw I by forest laws, 

And merry Needwopd knows the cause. 17a 

Poor Rose, — if Rose be living now,' — 

He wiped his iron eye and brow, — 

* Must bear such age, I think, as thou. — 
Hear ye, my mates ! I go to call 

The Captain of our watch to hall : 

There Kes my halberd on the floor ; 

And he that steps my halberd o'er, 

To do the maid injurious part, 

My shaft shall quiver in his heart ! 

Beware loose speech, or jesting rough ; iSo 

Ye all know John de Brent. Enough.' 

IX. 

Their Captain came, a gallant young, — 

Of Tullibardine's house he sprung, — 

Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight ; 

Gay was his mien, his humor light. 

And, though by courtesy controlled. 

Forward his speech, his bearing bold. 

The high-born maiden ill could brook 

The scanning of his curious look 

And dauntless eye : — and yet, in sooth, 190 

Voung Lewis was a generous youth ; 

But Ellen's lovely face and mien, 

111 suited to the garb and scene. 

Might lightly bear construction strange, 

And give loose fancy scope to range. 

* Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid I 
Come ye to seek a champion's aid. 
On palfrey white, with harper hoar, 
Like errant damosel of yore ? 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 15 1 

Does thy high quest a knight require, 200 

Or may the venture suit a squire ? ' 

Her dark eye flashed ; — she paused and sighed ; — 

' O what have I to do with pride ! — 

Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, 

A suppliant for a father's life, 

I crave an audience of the King. 

Behold, to back my suit, a ring, 

The royal pledge of grateful claims, 

Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James.* 

X. 

The signet-ring young Lewis took 210 

With deep respect and altered look, 

And said : ' This ring our duties own ; 

And pardon, if to worth unknown, 

In semblance mean obscurely veiled. 

Lady, in aught my folly failed. 

Soon as the day flings wide his gates, 

The King shall know what suitor waits. 

Please you meanwhile in fitting bower 

Repose you till his waking hour ; 

Female attendance shall obey 220 

Your hest, for service or array. 

Permit I marshal you the way.' 

But, ere she followed, with the grace 

And open bounty of her race. 

She bade her slender purse be shared 

Among the soldiers of the guard. 

The rest with thanks their guerdon took, 

But Brent, with shy and awkward look, 

On the reluctant maiden's hold 

Forced bluntly back the proflered gold : — 230 

* Forgive a haughty English heart, 

And O, forget its ruder part ! 



152 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 

The vacant purse shall be my share, 

Which in my barret-cap I '11 bear, 

Perchance, in jeopardy of war, 

Where gayer crests may keep afar.' 

With thanks — 't was all she could — the maid 

His rugged courtesy repaid. 



XI. 

When Ellen forth with Lewis went, 

Allan made suit to John of Brent : — 340 

* My lady safe, O let your grace 

Give me to see my master's face ! 

His minstrel I, — to share his doom 

Bound from the cradle to the tomb. 

Tenth in descent, since first my sires 

Waked for his noble house their lyres, 

Nor one of all the race was known 

But prized its weal above their own. 

With the Chief's birth begins our care ; 

Our harp must soothe the infant heir, ij* 

Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace 

His earliest feat of field or chase ; 

In peace, in war, our rank we keep, 

We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep, 

Nor leave him till we pour our verse — 

A doleful tribute ! — o'er his hearse. 

Then let me share his captive lot ; 

It is my right, — deny it not ! ' 

^ Little we reck,' said John of Brent, 

' We Southern men, of long descent ; a6* 

Nor wot we how a name — a word — 

Makes clansmen vassals to a lord : 

Yet kind my noble landlord's part, — 

God bless the house of Beaudesert I 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 153 

And, but I loved to drive the deer 
More than to guide the laboring steer, 
I had not dwelt an outcast here. 
Come, good old Minstrel, follow me ; 
Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see.' 

XII. 

Then, from a rusted iron hook, »7c 

A bunch of ponderous keys he took, 

Lighted a torch, and Allan led 

Through grated arch and passage dread. 

Portals they passed, where, deep within, 

Spoke prisoner's moan and fetters' din ; 

Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored, 

Lay wheel, and axe, and headsman's sword. 

And many a hideous engine grim, 

For wrenching joint and crushing limb. 

By artists formed who deemed it shame 380 

And sin to give their work a name. 

They halted at a low-browed porch. 

And Brent to Allan gave the torch. 

While bolt and chain he backward rolled, 

And made the bar unhasp its hold. 

They entered : — 't was a prison-room 

Of stern security and gloom. 

Yet not a dungeon ; for the day 

Through lofty gratings found its way, 

And rude and antique garniture 290 

Decked the sad walls and oaken floor. 

Such as the rugged days of old 

Deemed fit for captive noble's hold. 

^ Here,' said De Brent, ^ thou mayst remain 

Till the Leech visit him again. 

Strict is his charge, the warders tell. 

To tend the noble prisoner well.' 



154 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 

Retiring then the bolt he drew, 

And the lock's murmurs growled anew. 

Roused at the sound, from lowly bed 300 

A captive feebly raised his head ; 

The wondering Minstrel looked, and knew — 

Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu ! 

For, come from where Clan- Alpine fought, 

They, erring, deemed the Chief he sought. 

xm. 

As the tall ship, whose lofty prore 

Shall never stem the billows more, 

Deserted by her gallant band. 

Amid the breakers lies astrand, — 

So on his couch lay Roderick Dhu ! 310 

And oft his fevered hmbs he threw 

In toss abrupt, as when her sides 

Lie rocking in the advancing tides. 

That shake her frame with ceaseless beat. 

Yet cannot heave her from her seat ; — 

O, how unlike her course at sea ! 

Or his free step on hill and lea ! — 

Soon as the Minstrel he could scan, — • 

' What of thy lady ? — of my clan ? — 

My mother ? — Douglas ? — tell me all ! 320 

Have they been ruined in my fall? 

Ah, yes ! or wherefore art thou here ? 

Yet speak, — speak boldly, — do not fear.' — 

For Allan, who his mood well knew. 

Was choked with grief and terror too. — 

' Who fought ? — who fled ? — Old man, be brief ; — 

Some might, — for they had lost their Chief. 

Who basely live ? — who bravely died ? ' 

' O, calm thee, Chief ! ' the Minstrel cried, 

* Ellen is safe ! ' ' For that thank Heaven ! ' 330 

* And hopes are for the Douglas given ; — 



CANTO VI. 



THE GUARD-ROOM. 



155 




ALLAN-BANE AND RODERICK. 



The Lady Margaret, too, is well ; 
And, for thy clan, — on field or fell, 
Has never harp of minstrel told 
Of combat fought so true and bold. 
Thy stately Pine is yet unbent. 
Though many a goodly bough is rent.' 



XIV. 

The Chieftain reared his form on high, 
And fever's fire was in his eye ; 
But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks 
Checkered his swarthy brow and cheeks. 
' Hark, Minstrel ! I have heard thee play, 
With measure bold on festal day, 



340 



156 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 

In yon lone isle, — again where ne'er 

Shall harper play or warrior hear ! — 

That stirring air that peals on high, 

O'er Dermid's race our victory. — 

Strike it ! — and then, — for well thou canst, — 

Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced, 

Fling me the picture of the fight, 350 

When met my clan the Saxon might. 

I '11 listen, till my fancy hears 

The clang of swords, the crash of spears ! 

These grates, these walls, shall vanish then 

For the fair field of fighting men, 

And my free spirit burst away, 

As if it soared from battle fray.' 

The trembling Bard with awe obeyed, — 

Slow on the harp his hand he laid ; 

But soon remembrance of the sight 360 

He witnessed from the mountain's height, 

With what old Bertram told at night, 

Awakened the full power of song. 

And bore him in career along ; — 

As shallop launched on river's tide, 

That slow and fearful leaves the side. 

But, when it feels the middle stream. 

Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. 

XV. 

BATTLE OF BEAL' AN DUINE. 

'The Minstrel came once more to view 

The eastern ridge of Benvenue, 370 

For ere he parted he would say 

Farewell to lovely Loch Achray — 

Where shall he find, in foreign land, 

So lone a lake, so sweet a strand ! — 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 157 

There is no breeze upon the fern. 

No ripple on the lake, 
Upon her eyry nods the erne, 

The deer has sought the brake ; 
The small birds will not sing aloud, 

The springing trout lies still, 380 

So darkly glooms yon thunder- cloud, 
That swathes, as with a purple shroud, 

Benledi's distant hill. 
Is it the. thunder's solemn sound 

That mutters deep and dread. 
Or echoes from the groaning ground 

The warrior's measured tread? 
Is it the lightning's quivering glance 

That on the thicket streams, 
Or do they flash on spear and lance 390 

The sun's retiring beams ? — 
I see the dagger-crest of Mar, 
I see the Moray's silver star. 
Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war. 
That up the lake comes winding far ! 
To hero boune for battle-strife, 

Or bard of martial lay, 
'T were worth ten years of peaceful life, 

One glance at their array ! 

XVI. 

' Their light-armed archers far and near 400 

Surveyed the tangled ground, 
Their centre ranks, with pike and spear, 

A twihght forest frowned, 
Their barded horsemen in the rear 

The stern battalia crowned. 
No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang. 

Still were the pipe and drum ; 



158 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO VI. 



Save heavy tread, and armor's clang, 

The sullen march was dumb. 
There breathed no wind their crests to shake, 410 

Or wave their flags abroad ; 
Scarce the frail aspen seemed to quake, 

That shadowed o'er their road. 
Their vaward scouts no tidings bring. 

Can rouse no lurking foe, 
Nor spy a trace of living thing, 

Save when they stirred the joe ; 
The host moves like a deep-sea wave, 
Where rise no rocks its pride to brave. 

High-swelling, dark, and slow. 420 

The lake is passed, and now they gain 
A narrow and a broken plain. 
Before the Trosachs' rugged jaws ; 
And here the horse and spearmen pause. 
While, to explore the dangerous glen. 
Dive through the pass the archer-men. 

XVII. 

* At once there rose so wild a yell 
Within that dark and narrow dell, 
As all the fiends from heaven that fell 
Had pealed the banner-cry of hell ! 430 

Forth from the pass in tumult driven, 
Like chaff before the wind of heaven, 

The archery appear : 
For life ! for life ! their flight they ply — 
And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, 
And plaids and bonnets waving high, 
And broadswords flashing to the sky, 

Are maddening in the rear. 
Onward they drive in dreadful race. 

Pursuers and pursued ; 440 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 159 

Before that tide of flight and chase, 
How shall it keep its rooted place, 

The spearmen's twilight wood? — 
"Down, down," cried Mar, "your lances down ' 

Bear back both friend and foe ! " — 
Like reeds before the tempest's frown, 
That serried grove of lances brown 

At once lay levelled low ; 
And closely shouldering side to side, 
The bristling ranks the onset bide. — 450 

*'We '11 quell the savage mountaineer. 

As their Tinchel cows the game ! 
They come as fleet as forest deer, 

We '11 drive them back as tame." 

XVIII. 

* Bearing before them in their course 

The relics of the archer force, 

Like wave with crest of sparkling foam. 

Right onward did Clan-Alpine come. 
Above the tide, each broadsword bright 
Was brandishing like beam of light, +60 

Each targe was dark below ; 
And with the ocean's mighty swing. 
When heaving to the tempest's wing. 
They hurled them on the foe. 

I heard the lance's shivering crash. 

As when the whirlwind rends the ash ; 

I heard the broadsword's deadly clang, 

As if a hundred anvils rang ! 

But Moray wheeled his rearward rank 

Of horsemen on Clan- Alpine's flank, — 47<7 

" My banner-man, advance ! 
I see," he cried, "their column shake. 
Now, gallants ! for your ladies' sake, 
Upon them with the lance ! " — 



l6o THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 

The horsemen dashed among the rout, 

As deer break through the broom ; 
Their steeds are stout, their swords are out, 

They soon make hghtsome room. 
Clan- Alpine's best are backward borne — 

Where, where was Roderick then ! 480 

One blast upon his bugle-horn 
Were worth a thousand men. 
And refluent through the pass of fear 
: The battle's tide was poured ; 

Vanished the Saxon's struggling spear, 

Vanished the mountain- sword. 
As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, 

Receives her roaring Hnn, 
As the dark caverns of the deep 

Suck the wild whirlpool in, 490 

So did the deep and darksome pass 
Devour the battle's mingled mass ; 
None linger now upon the plain. 
Save those who ne'er shall fight again. 



XIX. 

* Now westward rolls the battle's din, 
That deep and doubling pass within. — 
Minstrel, away ! the work of fate 
Is bearing on ; its issue wait. 
Where the rude Trosachs' dread defile 
Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. 500 

Gray Benvenue I soon repassed, 
Loch Katrine lay beneath me cast. 
The sun is set ; — the clouds are met, 

The lowering scowl of heaven 
An inky hue of livid blue 

To the deep lake has given ; 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. l6l 

Strange gusts of wind from mountain glen 

Swept o'er the lake, then sunk again. 

I heeded not the eddying surge, 

Mine eye but saw the Trosachs' gorge, sio 

Mine ear but heard that sullen sound, 

Which like an earthquake shook the ground, 

And spoke the stern and desperate strife 

That parts not but with parting life, 

Seeming, to minstrel ear, to toll 

The dirge of many a passing soul. 

Nearer it comes — the dim-wood glen 

The martial flood disgorged again. 
But not in mingled tide ; 

The plaided warriors of the North 520 

High on the mountain thunder forth 
And overhang its side. 

While by the lake below appears 

The darkening cloud of Saxon spears. 

At weary bay each shattered band, 

Eying their foemen, sternly stand ; 

Their banners stream like tattered sail. 

That flings its fragments to the gale, 

And broken arms and disarray 

Marked the fell havoc of the day. 530 



XX. 

* Viewing the mountain's ridge askance. 
The Saxons stood in sullen trance. 
Till Moray pointed with his lance, 

And cried : " Behold yon isle ! — 
See ! none are left to guard its strand 
But women weak, that wring the hand : 
'T is there of yore the robber band 

Their booty wont to pfle ; — 
II 



1 62 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 



CANTO VI. 



My purse, with bonnet-pieces store, 

To him will swim a bow-shot o'er, 540 

And loose a shallop from the shore. 

Lightly we '11 tame the war- wolf then, 

Lords of his mate, and brood, and den." 

Forth from the ranks a spearman sprung, 

On earth his casque and corselet rung, 

He plunged him in the wave : — 
All saw the deed, — the purpose knew, 
And to their clamors Benvenue 

A mingled echo gave ; 
The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer, 550 

The helpless females scream for fear. 
And yells for rage the mountaineer. 
'Twas then, as by the outcry riven, 
Poured down at once the lowering heaven : 
A whirlwind swept Loch Katrine's breast. 
Her billows reared their snowy crest. 
Well for the swimmer swelled they high, 
To mar the Highland marksman's eye ; 
For round him showered, mid rain and hail, 
The vengeful arrows of the Gael. 560 

In vain. — He nears the isle — and lo ! 
His hand is on a shallop's bow. 
Just then a flash of lightning came, 
It tinged the waves and strand with flame ; 
I marked Duncraggan's widowed dame, 
Behind an oak I saw her stand, 
A naked dirk gleamed in her hand : — 
It darkened, — but amid the moan 
Of waves I heard a dying groan ; — 
Another flash ! — the spearman floats 570 

A weltering corse beside the boats. 
And the stern matron o'er him stood, 
Her hand and dagger streaming blood. 



CANTO VI. 



THE GUARD-ROOM. 



163 




ISLANDS IN LOCH KATRINE. 



XXI. 

^ " Revenge ! revenge ! " the Saxons cried, 
The Gaels' exulting shout replied. 
Despite the elemental rage, 
Again they hurried to engage ; 
But, ere they closed in desperate fight, 
Bloody with spurring came a knight, 
Sprung from his horse, and from a crag 
Waved 'twixt the hosts a milk-white flag. 
Clarion and trumpet by his side 
Rung forth a truce-note high and wide, 



580 



1 64 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, canto vi. 

While, in the Monarch's name, afar 

A herald's voice forbade the war, 

For Bothwell's lord and Roderick bold 

Were both, he said, in captive hold.' — 

But here the lay made sudden stand. 

The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand ! 

Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy 59c 

How Roderick brooked his minstrelsy : 

At first, the Chieftain, to the chime, 

With lifted hand kept feeble time ; 

That motion ceased, — yet feeling strong 

Varied his look as changed the song ; 

At length, no more his deafened ear 

The minstrel melody can hear ; 

His face grows sharp, — his hands are clenched, 

As if some pang his heart-strings wrenched ; 

Set are his teeth, his fading eye 600 

Is sternly fixed on vacancy ; 

Thus, motionless and moanless, drew 

His parting breath stout Roderick Dhu ! — 

Old Allan-bane looked on aghast. 

While grim and still his spirit passed ; 

But when he saw that life was fled, 

He poured his wailing o'er the dead. 

XXII. 
LAMENT. 

' And art thou cold and lowly laid, 

Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, 

Breadalbane's boast, Clan-Alpine's shade ! 610 

For thee shall none a requiem say ? — 

For thee, who loved the minstrel's lay, 

For thee, of Bothwell's house the stay, 

The shelter of her exiled line. 



'CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 1 65 

E'en in this prison-house of thine, 
I '11 wail for Alpine's honored Pine ! 

^ What groans shall yonder valleys fill ! 

What shrieks of grief shall rend yon hill ! 

What tears of burning rage shall thrill, 

When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, 620 

Thy fall before the race was won. 

Thy sword ungirt ere set of sun ! 

There breathes not clansman of thy Hne, 

But would have given his Kfe for thine. 

O, woe for Alpine's honored Pine ! 

' Sad was thy lot on mortal stage ! — 

The captive thrush may brook the cage, 

The prisoned eagle dies for rage. 

Brave spirit, do not scorn my strain ! 

And, when its notes awake again, 630 

Even she, so long beloved in vain. 

Shall with my harp her voice combine. 

And mix her woe and tears with mine. 

To wail Clan- Alpine's honored Pine.' 



xxm. 

Ellen the while, with bursting heart, 

Remained in lordly bower apart. 

Where played, with many-colored gleams, 

Through storied pane the rising beams. 

In vain on gilded roof they fall. 

And lightened up a tapestried wall, 64Q 

And for her use a menial train 

A rich collation spread in vain. 

The banquet proud, the chamber gay. 

Scarce drew one curious glance astray ; 



1 66 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 

Or if she looked, 't was but to say, 

With better omen dawned the day 

In that lone isle, where waved on high 

The dun-deer's hide for canopy ; 

Where oft her noble father shared 

The simple meal her care prepared, 650 

While Lufra, crouching by her side, 

Her station claimed with jealous pride, 

And Douglas, bent on woodland game, 

Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, 

Whose answer, oft at random made. 

The wandering of his thoughts betrayed. 

Those who such simple joys have known 

Are taught to prize them when they 're gone. 

But sudden, see, she lifts her head, 

The window seeks with cautious tread. 66a 

What distant music has the power 

To win her in this woful hour? 

'Twas from a turret that o'erhung 

Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. 

XXIV. 
LAY OF THE IMPRISONED HUNTSMAN. 

' My hawk is tired of perch and hood, 

My idle greyhound loathes his food, 

My horse is weary of his stall. 

And I am sick of captive thrall. 

I wish I were as I have been. 

Hunting the hart in forest green, 670 

With bended bow and bloodhound free, 

For that 's the life is meet for me. 

I hate to learn the ebb of time 

From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 167 

Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, 

Inch after inch, along the wall. 

The lark was wont my matins ring, 

The sable rook my vespers sing ; 

These towers, although a king's they be. 

Have not a hall of joy for me. 680 

No more at dawning morn I rise, 
And sun myself in Ellen's eyes. 
Drive the fleet deer the forest through, 
And homeward wend with evening dew ; 
A blithesome welcome blithely meet, 
And lay my trophies at her feet. 
While fled the eve on wing of glee, — 
That life is lost to love and me ! ' 

XXV. 

The heart-sick lay was hardly said, 

The listener had not turned her head, 690 

It trickled still, the starting tear. 

When light a footstep struck her ear. 

And Snowdoun's graceful Knight was near. 

She turned the hastier, lest again 

The prisoner should renew his strain. 

' O welcome, brave Fitz-James ! ' she said \ 

' How may an almost orphan maid 

Pay the deep debt — ' ' O say not so ! 

To me no gratitude you owe. 

Not mine, alas ! the boon to give, 7°° 

And bid thy noble father live ; 

I can but be thy guide, sweet maid. 

With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. 

No tyrant he, though ire and pride 

May lay his better mood aside. 

Come, Ellen, come ! 't is more than time, 

He holds his court at morning prime.' 



l68 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 

With beating heart, and bosom wrung, 

As to a brother's arm she clung. 

Gently he dried the falHng tear, 710 

And gently whispered hope and cheer ; 

Her faltering steps half led, half stayed, 

Through gallery fair and high arcade. 

Till at his touch its wings of pride 

A portal arch unfolded wide. 

XXVI. 

Within 't was brilliant all and light, 

A thronging scene of figures bright ; 

It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight. 

As when the setting sun has given 

Ten thousand hues to summer even, 720 

And from their tissue fancy frames 

Aerial knights and fairy dames. 

Still by Fitz-James her footing staid ; 

A few faint steps she forward made. 

Then slow her drooping head she raised, 

And fearful round the presence gazed ; 

For him she sought who owned this state, 

The dreaded Prince whose will was fate ! — 

She gazed on many a princely port 

Might well have ruled a royal court ; 730 

On many a splendid garb she gazed, — 

Then turned bewildered and amazed. 

For all stood bare ; and in the room 

Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. 

To him each lady's look was lent, 

On him each courtier's eye was bent ; 

Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen. 

He stood, in simple Lincoln green, 

The centre of the glittering ring, — 

And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King ! 740 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 169 

XXVII. 

As wreath of snow on mountain-breast 

Slides from the rock that gave it rest, 

Poor Ellen glided from her stay, . 

And at the Monarch's feet she lay ; 

No word her choking voice commands, — 

She showed the ring, — she clasped her hands. 

0, not a moment could he brook. 

The generous Prince, that supphant look ! 

Gently he raised her, — and, the while, 

Checked with a glance the circle's smile ; 750 

Graceful, but grave, her brow he kissed, 

And bade her terrors be dismissed : — 

* Yes, fair ; the wandering poor Fitz-James 

The fealty of Scotland claims. 

To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring ; 

He will redeem his signet ring. 

Ask naught for Douglas ; — yester even. 

His Prince and he have much forgiven ; 

Wrong hath he had from slanderous tongue, 

1, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. 760 
We would not, to the vulgar crowd. 

Yield what they craved with clamor loud ; 

Calmly we heard and judged his cause, 

Our council aided and our laws. 

I stanched thy father's death-feud stern 

With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn ; 

And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own 

The friend and bulwark of our throne. — 

But, lovely infidel, how now ? 

What clouds thy misbelieving brow ? 770 

Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid ; 

Thou must confirm this doubting maid.' 



1 70 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 



xxvin. 

Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, 

And on his neck his daughter hung. 

The Monarch drank, that happy hour, 

The sweetest, holiest draught of Power, — 

When it can say with godlike voice. 

Arise, sad Virtue, and rejoice ! 

Yet would not James the general eye 

On nature's raptures long should pry ; 780 

He stepped between — ' Nay, Douglas, nay. 

Steal not my proselyte away ! 

The riddle 't is my right to read. 

That brought this happy chance to speed. 

Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray 

In life's more low but happier way, 

'T is under name which veils my power. 

Nor falsely veils, — for Stirling's tower 

Of yore the name of Snowdoun claims. 

And Normans call me James Fitz-James. 790 

Thus w^atch I o'er insulted laws. 

Thus learn to right the injured cause.' 

Then, in a tone apart and low, — 

* Ah, little traitress ! none must know 

What idle dream, what lighter thought, 

What vanity full dearly bought. 

Joined to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew 

My spell-bound steps to Benvenue 

In dangerous hour, and all but gave 

Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive ! ' 800 

Aloud he spoke : '■ Thou still dost hold 

That little talisman of gold. 

Pledge of my faith, Fitz-James's ring, — 

What seeks fair Ellen of the King?' 



CANTO VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 171 

XXIX. 

Full well the conscious maiden guessed 

He probed the weakness of her breast ; 

But with that consciousness there came 

A lightening of her fears for Grseme, 

And more she deemed the Monarch's ire 

Kindled 'gainst him who for her sire 8io 

Rebellious broadsword boldly drew ; 

And, to her generous feeling true, 

She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. 

' Forbear thy suit ; — the King of kings 

Alone can stay life's parting wings. 

I know his heart, I know his hand. 

Have shared his cheer, and proved his brand ^ — • 

My fairest earldom would I give 

To bid Clan- Alpine's Chieftain live ! — 

Hast thou no other boon to crave? 820 

No other captive friend to save ? ' 

Blushing, she turned her from the King, 

And to the Douglas gave the ring, 

As if she wished her sire to speak 

The suit that stained her glowing cheek. 

' Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, 

And stubborn justice holds her course. 

Malcolm, come forth ! ' — and, at the word, 

Down kneeled the Graeme to Scotland's Lord. 

^ For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, ^3© 

From thee may Vengeance claim her dues. 

Who, nurtured underneath our smile. 

Hast paid our care by treacherous wile, 

And sought amid thy faithful clan 

A refuge for an outlawed man. 

Dishonoring thus thy loyal name. — 

Fetters and warder for the Graeme ! ' 



172 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. canto vi. 

His chain of gold the King unstrung, 

The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung, 

Then gently drew the glittering band, 840 

And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. 



Harp of the North, farewell ! The hills grow dark, 

On purple peaks a deeper shade descending ; 
In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark, 

The deer, half seen, are to the covert wending. 
Resume thy wizard elm ! the fountain lending, 

And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy ; 
Thy numbers sweet with nature's vespers blending, 

With distant echo from the fold and lea, 
And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. 

Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp ! S51 

Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway. 
And little reck I of the censure sharp 

May idly cavil at an idle lay. 
Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way. 

Through secret woes the world has never known. 
When on the weary night dawned wearier day, 

And bitterer was the grief devoured alone. — 
That I o'erlive such woes. Enchantress ! is thine own. 

Hark ! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, 860 

Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string ! 
'T is now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, 

'T is now the brush of Fairy's frohc wing. 
Receding now, the dying numbers ring 

Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell ; 
And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring 

A wandering witch-note of the distant spell — 
And now, 't is silent all ! — Enchantress, fare thee well ! 



OTES. 



ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES. 

Cf. (confer), compare. 

J''. Q., Spenser's Faerie Qtieejte, 

Fol., following. 

Id. {idem), the same. 

Lockhart, J. G. Lockharf's edition of Scott's poems (various issues). 

P. Z.., Milton's Paradise Lost. 

Taylor, R. W. Taylor's edition of The Lady of the Lake (London, 1875). 

Wb., Webster's Dictionary (revised quarto edition of 1879). 

Wore, Worcester's Dictionary (quarto edition). 

The abbreviations of the names of Shakespeare's plays will be readily understood. 
The line-numbers are those of the " Globe " edition. 

The references to Scott's Lay of the Last Mitistrel are to caato and line ; those to 
Marmion and other poems to canto and stanza-^ 



NOTES. 




T»E EASTERN END OF LOCH KATRINE. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The Lady of the Lake was first published in 1810, when Scott was 
thirty-nine, and it was dedicated to " the most noble John James, Mar- 
quis of Abercorn." Eight thousand copies were sold between June 2d 
and September 22d, 1810, and repeated editions were subsequently 
called for. In 1830, the following " Introduction " was prefixed to the 
poem by the author : — 

After the success of Marmion, I felt inclined to exclaim with Ulysses 
in the Odyssey : 

05to? fxev fir) ae^Xos daaros eKTereAecTTat • 
Nw afire ctkottov aXkov. ^ , 

" One venturous game my hand has won to-day — 
Another, gallants, yet remains to play." 

The ancient manners, the habits and customs of the aboriginal race 
by whom the Highlands of Scotland were inhabited, had always ap' 



176 NOTES. 

peared to me peculiarly adapted to poetry. The change in their man- 
ners, too, had taken place almost within my own time, or at least I had 
learned many particulars concerning the ancient state of the Highlands 
from the old men of the last generation. I had always thought the old 
Scottish Gael highly adapted for poetical composition. The feuds 
and political dissensions which, half a century earlier, would have ren- 
dered the richer and wealthier part of the kingdom indisposed to coun- 
tenance a poem, the scene of which was laid in the Highlands, were 
now sunk in the generous compassion which the English, more than 
any other nation, feel for the misfortunes of an honorable foe. The 
Poems of Ossian had by their popularity sufficiently shown that, if 
writings on Highland subjects were qualified to interest the reader, 
mere national prejudices were, in the present day, very unlikely to 
interfere with their success. 

I had also read a great deal, seen much, and heard more, of that 
romantic country where I was in the habit of spending some time 
every autumn ; and the scenery of Loch Katrine was connected with 
the recollection of many a dear friend and merry expedition of former 
days. This poem, the action of which lay among scenes so beautiful 
and so deeply imprinted on my recollections, was a labor of love, and 
it was no less so to recall the manners and incidents introduced. The 
frequent custom of James IV., and particularly of James V., to walk 
through their kingdom in disguise, afforded me the hint of an incident 
which never fails to be interesting if managed with the slightest address 
or dexterity. 

I may now confess, however, that the employment, though attended 
with great pleasure, was not without its doubts and anxieties. A lady^ 
to whom I was nearly related, and with whom I lived, during her whole 
life, on the most brotherly terms of affection, was residing with me at 
the time when the work was in progress, and used to ask me, what I 
could possibly do to rise so early in the morning (that happening to be 
the most convenient to me for composition). At last I told her the 
subject of my meditations ; and I can never forget the anxiety and 
affection expressed in her reply. " Do not be so rash," she said, " my 
dearest cousin. 1 You are already popular, — more so, perhaps, than 
you yourself will believe, or than even I, or other partial friends, can 
fairly allow to your merit. You stand high, — do not rashly attempt to 
climb higher, and incur the risk of a fall ; for, depend upon it, a favor- 
ite will not be permitted even to stumble with impunity." I replied to 
this affectionate expostulation in the words of Montrose, — 

" ' He either fears his fate too much, 
Or his deserts are small, 
Who dares not put it to the touch 
To gain or lose it all.' 

" If I fail," I said, for the dialogue is strong in my recollection, " it is 
a. sign that I ought never to have succeeded, and I will write prose for 

' Lockhart says : " The lady with whom Sir Walter Scott held this conversation was, 
no doubt, his aunt, Miss Christian Rutherford; there was no other female relation 
dead^\\t.\\ this Introduction was written, whom I can suppose him to have consulted 
on literary questions. Lady Capulet, on seeing the corpse of Tybalt, exclaims,— 
' Tybalt, my cousin ! O my brother's child 1 ' " 



INTR OD UC TION. 177 

life : you shall see no change in my temper, nor will I eat a single meal 

the worse. But if I succeed, 

* Up with the bonnie blue bonnet, 

The dirk, and the feather, and a' ! '" 

Afterwards I showed my affectionate and anxious critic the first canto 
of the poem, which reconciled her to my imprudence. Nevertheless, 
although I answered thus confidently, with the obstinacy often said to 
be proper to those who bear my surname, I acknowledge that my con- 
fidence was considerably shaken by the warning of her excellent taste 
and unbiased friendship. Nor was I much comforted by her retracta- 
tion of the unfavorable judgment, when I recollected how likely a natural 
partiality was to effect that change of opinion. In such cases, affection 
rises like a light on the canvas, improves any favorable tints which it 
formerly exhibited, and throws its defects into the shade. 

I remember that about the same time a friend started in to " heeze 
up my hope," like the " sportsman with his cutty gun," in the old song. 
He was bred a farmer, but a man of powerful understanding, natural 
good taste, and warm poetical feeling, perfectly competent to supply 
the wants of an imperfect or irregular education. He was a passionate 
admirer of field-sports, which we often pursued together. 

As this friend happened to dine with me at Ashestiel one day, I took 
the opportunity of reading to him the first canto of The Lady of the 
Lake, in order to ascertain the effect the poem was likely to produce 
upon a person who was but too favorable a representative of readers 
at large. It is of course to be supposed that I determined rather to 
guide my opinion by what my friend might appear to feel, than by what 
he might think fit to say. His reception of my recitation, or prelection, 
was rather singular. He placed his hand across his brow, and listened 
with great attention through the whole account of the stag-hunt, till the 
dogs threw themselves into the lake to follow their master, who em- 
barks with Ellen Douglas. He then started up with a sudden exclama- 
tion, struck his hand on the table, and declared, in a voice of censure 
calculated for the occasion, that the dogs must have been totally ruined 
by being permitted to take the water after such a severe chase. I own 
I was much encouraged by the species of revery which had possessed 
so zealous a follower of the sports of the ancient Nimrod, who had been 
completely surprised out of all doubts of the reality of the tale. Another 
of his remarks gave me less pleasure. He detected the identity of the 
King with the wandering knight, Fitz-James, when he winds his bugle 
to summon his attendants. He was probably thinking of the lively, but 
somewhat licentious, old ballad, in which the denouement of a royal 
intrigue takes place as follows : 

*' He took a bugle frae his side, 
He blew both loud and shrill, 
And four and twenty belted knights 

Came skipping ower the hill ; 
Then he took out a little knife, 

Let a' his duddies fa', 
And he was the brawest gentleman 
That was amang them a'. 

And we '11 go no more a roving," etc. 



178 NOTES, 

This discovery, as Mr. Pepys says of the rent in his camlet cloak, was 
but a trifle, yet it troubled me ; and I was at a good deal of pains to 
efface any marks by which I thought my secret could be traced before 
the conclusion, when I relied on it with the same hope of producing 
effect, with which the Irish post-boy is said to reserve a " trot for the 
avenue." 

I took uncommon pains to verify the accuracy of the local circum- 
stances of this story. I recollect, in particular, that to ascertain whether 
I was telling a probable tale, I went into Perthshire, to see whether King 
James could actually have ridden from the banks of Loch Vennachar 
to Stirling Castle within the time supposed in the poem, and. had the 
pleasure to satisfy myself that it was quite practicable. 

After a considerable delay. The Lady of the Lake appeared in June, 
1810; and its success was certainly so extraordinary as to Induce me 
for the moment to conclude that I had at last fixed a nail in the pro- 
verbially inconstant wheel of Fortune, whose stability in behalf of 
an individual who had so boldly courted her favors for three success- 
ive times had not as yet been shaken. I had attained, perhaps, that 
degree of reputation at which prudence, or certainly timidity, would 
have made a halt, and discontinued efforts by which I was far more 
likely to diminish my fame than to increase it. But, as the celebrated 
John Wilkes is said to have explained to his late Majesty, that he him- 
self, amid his full tide of popularity, was never a Wilkite, so I can, with 
honest truth, exculpate myself from having been at any time, a partisan 
of my own poetry, even when it was in the highest fashion with the 
million. It must not be supposed that I was either so ungrateful, or so 
superabundantly candid, as to despise or scorn the value of those Avhose 
voice had elevated me so much higher than my own opinion told me 
I deserved. I felt, on the contrary, the moie grateful to the public, as 
receiving that from partiality to me, which I could not have claimed 
from merit ; and I endeavored to deserve the partiality, by continuing 
such exertions as I was capable of for their amusement. 

• It may be that I did not, in this continued course of scribbling, con- 
sult either the interest of the public or my own. But the former had 
effectual means of defending themselves, and could, by their coldness, 
sufficiently check any approach to intrusion ; and for myself, I had now 
for several years dedicated my hours so much to literary labor that I 
should have felt difficulty in employing myself otherwise ; and so, like 
Dogberry, I generously bestowed all my tediousness on the public, 
comforting myself with the reflection that, if posterity should think me 
undeserving of the favor with which I was regarded by my contempo- 
raries, " they could not but say I had the crown," and had enjoyed for 
a time that popularity which is so much coveted. 

\ conceived, however, that I held the distinguished situation I had 
obtained, however unworthily, rather like the champion of pugilism,^ 

^ Lockhart quotes Byron, Don Juan, xi. 55 : 

" In twice five years the ' greatest living poet,' 
Like to the champion in the fisty ring. 
Is called on to support his claim, or show it, 
Although 'tis an imaginary thing," etc. 



INTRODUCTION^. 179 

on the condition of being always ready to show proofs of my skill, than 
in the manner of the champion of chivalry, who performs his duties 
only on rare and solemn occasions. I was in any case conscious that I 
could not long hold a situation which the caprice, rather than the judg- 
ment, of the public, had bestowed upon me, and preferred being deprived 
of my precedence by some more worthy rival, to sinking into contempt 
for my indolence, and losing my reputation by what Scottish lawyers 
call the negative prescription. Accordingly, those who choose to look 
at the Introduction to Rokeby, will be able to trace the steps by which 
I declined as a poet to figure as a novelist ; as the ballad says, Queen 
Eleanor sunk at Charing Cross to rise again at Queenhithe, 

It only remains for me to say that, during my short pre-eminence of 
popularity, I faithfully observed the rules of moderation which I had 
resolved to follow before I began my course as a man of letters. If a 
man is determined to make a noise in the world, he is as sure to en- 
counter abuse and ridicule, as he who gallops furiously through a village 
must reckon on being followed by the curs in full cry. Experienced 
persons know that in stretching to flog the latter, the rider is very apt 
to catch a bad fall ; nor is an attempt to chastise a malignant critic 
attended with less danger to the author. On this principle, I let parody, 
burlesque, and squibs find their own level ; and while the latter hissed 
most fiercely, I was cautious never to catch them up, as schoolboys do, 
to throw them back against the naughty boy who fired them off, wisely 
remembering that they are in such cases apt to explode in the hand- 
ling. Let me add, that my reign ^ (since Byron has so called it) was 
marked by some instances of good-nature as well as patience. I never' 
refused a literary person of merit such services in smoothing his way to 
the public as were in my power ; and I had the advantage, rather an 
uncommon one with our irritable race, to enjoy general favor without 
incurring permanent ill-will, so far as is known to me, among any of my 
contemporaries. -r-y o 

Abbotsford, April, 1830. 

Our limits do not permit us to add any extended selections from 
the many critical notices of the poem. The verdict of Jeffrey, in 
the Edinbttrgh Review, on its first appearance, has been generally en- 
dorsed : — 

" Upon the whole, we are inclined to think more highly of The Lady of 
the Lake than of either of its author's former publications [the Lay and 
Marmioji\. We are more sure, however, that it has fewer faults than 
that it has greater beauties ; and as its beauties bear a strong resem- 
blance to those with which the public has been already made familiar 
in these celebrated works, we should not be surprised if its popularity 
were less splendid and remarkable. For our own parts, however, we 
are of opinion that it will be oftener read hereafter than either of them ; 
and that, if it had appeared first in the series, their reception would 
have been less favorable than that which it has experienced. It is more 

"^ " Sir Walter reigned before me," etc. {_Don Juan, xi. 57). 



I So NOTES. 

polished in its diction, and more regular in its versification; the story 
is constructed with infinitely more skill and address ; there is a greater 
proportion of pleasing and tender passages, with much less antiquarian 
detail ; and, upon the whole, a larger variety of characters, more art- 
fully and judiciously contrasted. There is nothing so fine, perhaps, as 
the battle in Mar?nion, or so picturesque as some of the scattered 
sketches in the Lay ; but there is a richness and a spirit in the whole 
piece which does not pervade either of those poems, — a profusion of 
incident and a shifting brilliancy of coloring that reminds us of the 
witchery of Ariosto, and a constant elasticity and occasional energy 
which seem to belong more peculiarly to the author now before us." 



CANTO FIRST. 

Each canto is introduced by one or more Spenserian stanzas,'^ form- 
ing a kind of prelude to it. Those prefixed to the first canto serve as 
an introduction to the whole poem, which is "inspired by the spirit of 
the old Scottish minstrelsy." 

2. Witch-elm. The broad-leaved or wych elm {Ubniis montana)^ in- 
digenous to Scotland. Forked branches of the tree were used in the 
olden time as divining-rods, and riding switches from it were supposed 
to insure good luck on a journey. In the closing stanzas of the poem 
(vi. 846) it is called the " wizard elm." Tennyson (/;/ Memoriam, 89) 
refers to 

" Witch-elms that counterchange the floor 
Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright." 

Saint Fillan was a Scotch abbot of the seventh century who became 
famous as a saint. He had two springs, which appear to be confounded 
by some editors of the poem. One was at the eastern end of Loch 
Earn, where the pretty m.odern village of St. Fillans now stands, under 
the shadow of Dun Fillan, or St. Fillan'' s Hill, six himdred feet high, on 
the top of which the saint used to say his prayers, as the marks of his 
knees in the rock still testify to the credulous. The other spring is at 
another village called St. Fillans, nearly thirty miles to the westward, 
just outside the limits of our map, on the road to Tyndrum. In this 
Holy Pool, as it is called, insane folk were dipped with certain cere- 
monies, and then left bound all night in the open air. If they were 
found loose the next morning, they were supposed to have been cured. 
This treatment was practised as late as 1790, according to Pennant, 
who adds that the patients were generally found in the morning relieved 
of their troubles — by death. Another writer, in 1843, ^'^Y^ ^^2X the 
pool is still visited, not by people of the vicinity, who have no faith in 

I The Spenserian stanza, first used by Spenser in his Faerie Queene, consists of 
eight hnes often syllables, followed by a line of twelve syllables, the accents throughout 
being on the even syllables (the so-called ia')nbic measure). There are three sets of 
rhymes: one for the first and third lines; another for the second, fourth, fifth, and 
seventh ; and a third for the sixth, eighth, and ninth. 



CANTO I. l8l 

its virtue, but by those from distant places. Scott alludes to this spring 
in Marmion, i. 29 : 

" Thence to Saint Fillan's blessed well,_ 
Whose springs can frenzied dreams dispel, 
And the crazed brain restore." 

3. And down the fitful breeze, etc. The original MS. reads : 

" And on the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, 
Till envious ivy, with her verdant ring, 
Mantled and muffled each melodious string, — 
O Wizard Harp, still must thine accents sleep?" 

10. Caledon. Caledonia, the Roman name of Scotland. 
14. Each according pause. That is, each pause in the singing. In 
Marmion, ii. n, according is used of music that fills the intervals of 
other music : 

" Soon as they neared his turrets strong. 
The maidens raised Saint Hilda's song. 
And with the sea-wave and the wind 
Their voices, sweetly shrill, combined, 

And made harmonious close ; 
Then, answering from the sandy shore, 
Half-drowned amid the breakers' roar. 
According chorus rose." 

The MS. reads here : 

" At each according pause thou spokest aloud 
Thine ardent sympathy sublime and high." 

28. The stag at eve had drunk his fill. The metre of the poem proper 
is iambic, that is, with the accent on the even syllables, and octosyllabic, 
or eight syllables to the line. 

29. Monan's rill. St. Monan was a Scotch martyr of the fourth cen- 
tury. We can find no mention of any rill named for him. 

31. Glenartney. A valley to the north-east of Callander, with 
Benvoirlich (which rises to the height of 3180 feet) on the north, and 
Uam-Var (see 53 below) on the south, separating it from the valley of 
the Teith. It takes its name from the Artney, the stream flowing 
through it. 

32. His beacon red. The figure is an appropriate one in describing 
this region, where fires on the hill-tops were so often used as signals in 
the olden time. Cf. the Lay, iii. 379 : 

" And soon a score of fires, I ween, 
From height, and hill, and cliff, were seen, 
Each with warlike tidings fraught; 
Each from each the signal caught," etc. 

34. Deep-motUhed. Cf. Shakespeare, i Hen. VI. ii. 4. 12: "Between 
two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth;" and T of S. ind. i. 18 : "the 
deep-mouthed brach" (that is, hound). 

The MS. reads : 

" The bloodhound's notes of heavy bass 
Resounded hoarsely up the pass." 

35. Resounded . . . rocky. The poet often avails himself of " apt 
alliteration's artful aid," as here, and in the next two lines; most fre- 
quently in pairs of words. 



1 82 NOTES. 

38. As Chief, etc. Note here, as often, the simile put be/ore that 
which it illustrates, — an effective rhetorical, though not the logical, 
arrangement. 

45. Beamed frontlet. Antlered forehead. 

46. Adown. An instance of a purely poetical word, not admissible 
in prose. 

49. Chase. Here put for those engaged in the chase; as in loi and 
171, below. One of its regular meanings is the object of the chase, or 
the animal pursued. 

53. Uavi-Var. " Ua-Var, as the name is pronounced, or more prop- 
erly Uaigh-mor, is a mountain to the north-east of the village of Cal- 
lander, in Menteith, deriving its name, which signifies the great den, or 
cavern, from a sort of retreat among the rocks on the south side, said, 
by tradition, to have been the abode of a giant. In latter times, it was 
the refuge of robbers and banditti, who have been only extirpated 
within these forty or fifty years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is 
not a cave, as the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure, or 
recess, surrounded with large rocks and open above head. It may have 
been originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get in from the 
outside, but would find it difficult to return. This opinion prevails 
among the old sportsmen and deer-stalkers in the neighborhood " 
(Scott). 

54. Yelled. Note the emphatic force of the inversion, as in 59 below. 
Cf. 38 above. 

Opening;. That is, barking on view or scent of the game ; a hunting 
term. Cf. Shakespeare, M. W. iv. 2. 209 : " If I bark out thus upon no 
trail, never trust me when I open again." 

The description of the echo which follows is very spirited. 

66. Cairn. Literally, a heap of stones ; here put poetically for the 
rocky point which the falcon takes as a look-out. 

69. Hurricane. A metaphor for the wild rush of the hunt. 

71. Linn. Literally, a deep pool ; but often = cataract, as in Brack- 
linn, ii. 270 below (cf. vi. 488), and sometimes := precipice. 

73. On the lone wood. Note the musical variation in the measure 
here; the ist, 3d, and 4th syllables being accented instead of the 2d and 
4th. It is occasionally introduced into iambic metre with admirable 
effect. Cf. 85 and 97 belov/. 

76. The cavern, etc. See on 53 above. 

80. Perforce. A poetical word. See on 46 above. 

84. Shrewdly. Severely, keenly; a sense now obsolete. Shnwd 
originally meant evil, mischievous.' Cf. Shakespeare, A. V. L. v. 4. 179, 
where it is said that those 

" That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us 
Shall share the good of our returned fortune." 

In Chaucer {Tale of Meliba:iis) we 6nd, "The prophete saith : Flee 
shrewdnesse, and do goodnesse " (referring to Ps. xxxiv. 14). 

89. Menteith. The district in the southwestern part of Perthshire, 
watered by the Teith. 

91. Mountain and meadow, etc. See on 35 above. i^<?w is used in 



CANTO I. 183 

the North-of-England sense of a boggy or peaty district, like the famous 
Chat Moss between Liverpool and Manchester. 

93. Lochard. Loch Ard is a beautiful lakelet, about five miles south 
of Loch Katrine. On its eastern side is the scene of Helen Macgregor's 
skirmish with the King's troops in Rob Roy ; and near its head, on the 
northern side, is a waterfall, which is the original of Flora Maclvor's 
favorite retreat in Waverley. Aberfoyle is a village about a mile and a 
half to the east of the lake. 

95. Loch Achray. A lake between Loch Katrine and Loch Ven- 
nachar, lying just beyond the pass of the Trosachs. 

97. Boiveniie. A mountain, 2386 feet in height, on the southern side 
of Loch Katrine. 

98. With the hope. The MS. has "with the thought," and "flying 
hoof^'' in the next line. 

102. 'Twere. It would be. Cf. Shakespeare, y^crc^. ii. 2. 73 : "To 
know my deed, 't were best not know myself." 

103. Cambusmore. The estate of a family named Buchanan, whom 
Scott frequently visited in his younger days. It is about two miles 
from Callander, on the wooded banks of the Keltic, a tributary of the 
Teith. 

105. Benledi, A mountain, 2882 feet high, northwest from Callander. 
The name is said to mean " Mountain of God." 

106. Bochastle's heath. A moor between the east end of Loch Ven- 
nachar and Callander. See also on v. 298 below. 

107. The flooded Teith. The Teith is formed by streams from Loch 
Voil and from Loch Katrine (by way of Loch Achray and Loch Ven- 
nachar), which unite at Callander. It joins the Forth near Stirling. 

111. Vennachar. As the map shows, this "Lake of the Fair Valley " 
is the most eastern of the three lakes around which the scenery of the 
poem lies. It is about five miles long and a mile and a half wide. 

112. The Brigg of Turk. This bi'ig, or bridge (cf. Burns's poem of 
The Brigs of Ayr), is over a stream that comes down from Glenfinlas 
and flows into the one connecting Lochs Achray and Vennachar. 
According to Graham, it is "the scene of the death of a wild boar 
famous in Celtic tradition." 

114. Unbated. Cf. Shakespeare, M. of V. ii. 6. 11 : 

" Where is the horse that doth untread again 
His tedious measures with the unbated fire 
That he did pace them first ? " 

115. Scourge and steel. Whip and spur. Steel is often used for the 
sword (as in v. 239 below: " foeman worthy of their steel "), the figure 
being of the same sort as here — " the material put for the thing made 
of it." Cf. V. 479 below. 

117. Embossed. An old hunting term. George Turbervile, in his 
Noble Art of Venerie or Huntiiig (a. d. 1576), says : " When the hart is 
foamy at the mouth, we say, that he is emboss'd." Cf. Shakespeare, 
T. of S. ind. i. 17 : " Brach Merriman, the poor cur, is emboss'd;" and 
A. and C. iv. 13. 3 : 

" the boar of Thessaly 
Was never so emboss'd." 



1 84 NOTES. 

120. Saint HtiherVs breed. Scott quotes Turbervile here: "The 
hounds which we call Saint Hubert's hounds are commonly all blacke, 
yet neuertheless, the race is so mingled at these days, that we find them 
of all colours. These are the hounds which the abbots of St. Hubert 
haue always kept some of their race or kind, in honour or remembrance 
of the saint, which was a hunter with S. Eustace. Whereupon we may 
conceiue that (by the grace of God) all good huntsmen shall follow^ them 
into paradise." 

127. Quarry. The animal hunted ; another technical term. Shake- 
speare uses it in the sense of a heap of slaughtered game ; as in Cor. 
i. I. 202: 

" Would the nobility lay aside their ruth, 

And let me use my sword, I 'd make a quarry 
With thousands of these quarter'd slaves," etc. 

Cf . Longfellow, Hiawatha : 

" Seldom stoops the soaring vulture 
O'er his quarry in the desert." 

130. Stock. Tree-Stump. (Zi. Job, xiv. 8. 

133. Turn to bay. Like sta^id at bay, etc., a term used when the stag, 
driven to extremity, turns round and faces his pursuers. Cf. Shake- 
speare, I Hen. VI. iv. 2. 52, where it is used figuratively (as in vi. 525 
below) : 

" Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel, 
And make the cowards stand aloof at bay ; " 

and T. of S. v. 2. 56: " 'T is thought your deer does hold you at a 

bay," etc. 

137. For the death-wound, etc. Scott has the following note here: 
" When the stag turned to bay, the ancient hunter had the perilous 

task of going in upon, and killing or disabling, the desperate animal. 

At certain times of the year this was held particularly dangerous, a 

wound received from a stag's horn being then deemed poisonous, and 

more dangerous than one from the tusks of a boar, as the old rhyme 

testifies : 

' If thou be hurt with hart, it brings thee to thy bier. 
But barber's hand will boar's hurt heal, therefore thou need'st not fear.' 

At all times, however, the task was dangerous, and to be adventured 
upon wisely and warily, either by getting behind the stag while he was 
gazing on the hounds, or by watching an opportunity to gallop roundly 
in upon him, and kill him with the sword. See many directions to this 
purpose in the Booke of Hunting, chap. 41. Wilson, the historian, has 
recorded a providential escape which befell him in this hazardous sport, 
while a youth, and follower of the Earl of Essex : 

* Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one summer to 
hunt the stagg. And having a great stagg in chase, and many gentlemen 
in the pursuit, the stagg took soyle. And divers, whereof I was one, 
alighted, and stood with swords drawne, to have a cut at him, at his 
coming out of the water. The staggs there being wonderfully fierce and 
dangerous, made us youths more eager to be at him. But he escaped 
us all. And it was my misfortune to be hindered of my coming nere 



CANTO r. 185 

him, the way being sliperie, by a falle ; which gave occasion to some, 
who did not know mee, to speak as if I had falne for feare. Which 
being told mee, I left the stagg, and followed the gentleman who [first] 
spake it. But I found him of that cold temper, that it seems his words 
made an escape from him ; as by his denial and repentance it appeared. 
But this made mee more violent in the pursuit of the stagg, to recover 
my reputation. And I happened to be the only horseman in, when the 
dogs sett him up at bay ; and approaching near him on horsebacke, he 
broke through the dogs, and run at mee, and tore my horse's side with 
his homes, close by my thigh. Then I quitted my horse, and grew 
more cunning (for the dogs had sette him up againe), stealing behind 
him with my sword, and cut his hamstrings ; and then got upon his 
back, and cut his throate ; which, as I was doing, the company came in, 
and blamed my rashness for running such a hazard ' [Feck's Desiderata 
Cnriosa, ii. 464)." 

138. Whinyard. A short stout sword or knife ; the same as the 
whinger of the Lay of Last Minstrel, v. 7 : 

*' And whingers, now in friendship bare 
The social meal to part and share, 
Had found a bloody sheath." 

142. Turned him. In Elizabethan, and still more in earlier English, 
personal pronouns were often used reflexively; and this, like many 
other old constructions, is still used in poetry. 

145. Trosachs. ^^ The. rough or drist/ed territory^' (Graham); the wild 
district between Lochs Katrine and Vennachar. The name is now 
especially applied to the pass between Lochs Katrine and Achray. 

147. C/ose couched. That is, as he lay close couched, or hidden. 
Such ellipses are common in poetry. 

150. Amain. With main, or full force. We still say "with might 
and main." 

151.^ Chiding. Not a mere figurative use of chide as we now under- 
stand it (cf. 287 below), but an example of the old sense of the word 
as applied to any oft-repeated noise. Shakespeare uses it of the bark- 
ing of dogs in M. N. D. iv. i. 120 : 

" never did I hear 
Such gallant chiding ; " 

of the wind, as in A. Y. L. ii. i. 7 : "And churlish chiding of the win- 
ter's wind ;" and of the sea, as in i Hen. LV. iii. i. 45 : 

"the sea 
That chides the banks of England ; " • 

and Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 197 : "the chiding flood." 

163. The banks of Seine. James visited France in 1536, and sued for 
the hand of Magdalen, daughter of Francis I. He married her the 
following spring, but she died a few months later. He then married 
Mary of Guise, whom he had doubtless seen while in France. 

166. Woe worth the chase. That is, woe be to it. This worth is from 
the A. S. weorthan, to become. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 32: 

" Wo worth the man, 
That first did teach the cursed Steele to bight 
In his owne flesh, and make way to the living spright ! " 

See also Ezek. xxx. 2. 



1 86 NOTES. 

l8o. And on the hunter, etc. The MS. reads: 

" And on the hunter hied his pace, 
To meet some comrades of the chase ; " 

and the ist ed. retams "pace" and "chase." 

184. The •western zaaves, etc. This description of the Trosachs was 
written amid the scenery it delineates, in the summer of 1809. The 
Quarterly Review (May, 1810) says of the poet: "He sees everything 
with a painter's eye-. Whatever he represents has a character of 
individuality, and is drawn with an accuracy and minuteness of dis- 
crimination which we are not accustomed to expect from mere verbal 
description. It is because Mr. Scott usually delineates those objects 
with which he is perfectly familiar that his touch is so easy, correct, and 
animated. The rocks, the ravines, and the torrents which he exhibits 
are not the imperfect sketches of a hurried traveller, but the finished 
studies of a resident artist." See also on 278 below. 

Ruskin [Modern Painters, iii. 278) refers to "the love of color'''' as a 
leading element in Scott's love of beauty. He might have quoted the 
present passage among the illustrations he adds. 

195. The native bulvoarks, etc. The MS. has "The mimic castles of 
the pass." 

196. The tozaer, etc. Cf. Gen. xi. 1-9. 

198. The rocky. The ist ed. has "Their rocky," etc. 

204. Nor zvere, ^\.c. The MS. reads : " Nor were these mighty bul- 
warks bare." 

208. Dewdrop sheen. Not "dewdrops sheen," or " dewdrops' sheen," 
as sometimes printed. Sheen = shining, bright ; as in v. 10 below. 
Cf. Spenser, T. Q. ii. i. 10 : "so faire and sheene;" Id. iii. 4. 51 : "in 
top of heaven sheene," etc. See Wb. The MS. has here : " Bright 
glistening with the dewdrop sheen." 

212. Boon. Bountiful. Cf. Milton, /'. Z. iv. 242 : 

" Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art 
In beds and curious knots, but nature boon 
Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain." 

See also P. L. ix. 793 : "jocund and boon." 

217. Bower. In the old sense of chamber, lodging-place ; as in 
:v. 413 and vi. 218 below. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iii. i. 58: 

" Eftesoones long waxen torches weren light 
Unto their bowres to guyden every guest." 

For clift ( = cleft), the reading of the ist ed. and unquestionably what 
vScott wrote, every other edition that we have seen reads " cliff." 

219. Emblems of pnnishment and pride. See on iii. 19 below, 

222, 223. Note the imperfect rhyme in breath and beneath. Cf. 224-25, 
256-57, 435-36, 445-46 below. Such instances are comparatively rare 
in Scott's poetry. Some rhymes that appear to be imperfect are to be 
explained by peculiarities of Scottish pronunciation. See on 363 below. 

227. Shattered. The MS. has " scathed; " also " rugged arms athwart 
the sky " in 229, and "twinkling" for glistening in 231. The ist ed. 
has "scattered " for shattered ; corrected in the Errata. 

231. Streamers. Of ivy or other vines. 



CANTO I. 187 

238. Affording, ^tc. The MS. reads: 

" Affording scarce such breadth of flood 
As served to float the wild-duck's brood." 

247. Emerging, etc. The MS. has "Emerging dry-shod from the 
wood." 

254. And nmv, to issice from the glen, etc. " Until the present road 
was made through the romantic pass which I have presumptuously 
attempted to describe in the pFCceding stanzas, there was no mode of 
issuing out of the defile called the Trosachs, excepting by a sort of 
ladder, composed of the branches and roots of trees " (Scott). 

263. Loch Katrine. In a note to The Fair Maid of Perth, Scott de= 
rives the name from the Catterans, or Highland robbers, that once 
infested the shores of th& lake. Others make it " the Lake of the 
Battle," in memory of some prehistoric conflict. 

267. Livelier. Because in motion ; like living gold ahoYe. 

270. Benvenue. See on 97 above. 

271. Dozvn to. Most editions misprint "down on." 

272. Co?tfusedly. A trisyllable; as in ii. 161 below, and in the Lay, 
iii. 337 : " And helms and plumes, confusedly tossed." 

274. Wilderiitg. Bewildering. Cf. Dryden, Aurungzebe, i. i : " wii 
der'd in the way," etc. See also 434 and v. 22 below. 

275. His ruined sides, ^Xz. The MS. reads: 

" His ruined sides and fragments hoar, 
While oil the north to middle air." 

277. Ben-ait. This mountain, 1800 feet high, is north of the Trosachs, 
separating that pass from Glenfinlas. 

278. From the steep, etc. The MS. reads: 

" From the high promontory gazed 

The stranger, awe-struck and amazed." 

The Critical Review (Aug. 1820) remarks of this portion of the poem 
(184 fol.) : " Perhaps the art of landscape-painting in poetry has never 
been displayed in higher perfection than in these stanzas, to which rigid 
criticism might possibly object that the picture is somewhat too minute, 
and that the contemplation of it detains the traveller somewhat too long 
from the main purpose of his pilgrimage, but which it would be an act 
of the greatest injustice to break into fragments and present by piece- 
meal. Not so the magnificent scene which bursts upon the bewildered 
hunter as he emerges at length from the dell, and commands at one 
view the beautiful expanse of Loch Katrine." 

281. Churchman. In its old sense of one holding high office in the 
church. Cf. Shakespeare, 2 Lien. VL i. 3. 72, where Cardinal Beaufort 
is called " the imperious churchman," etc. 

285. Cloister. Monastery, originally, the covered walk around the 
inner court of the building. 

287. Chide. Here, figuratively, in the modern sense. See on 151 
above. 

290. Should lave. The ist ed. has " did lave," which is perhaps ta 
be preferred. 

294, While the deep peaVs, For the measure, see on 73 above. 



and below : 



1 88 NOTES. 

300. To friendly feast, etc. The MS. has " To hospitable feast and 
hall." 

302. Beshrew. May evil befall (see on shrewdly, 84 above) ; a mild 
imprecation, often used playfully and even tenderly. Cf, Shakespeare, 
2 Hen. IV. ii. 3. 45 : 

" Beshrew your heart. 
Fair daughter, you do draw my spirits from me 
With new lamenting ancient oversights ! " 

305. Some mossy bank, etc. The MS. reads: 

" And hollow trunk of some old tree 
My chamber for the night must be." 

313. Highland plunderers. "The clans who inhabited the romantic 
regions in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine were, even until a late 
period, much addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland 
neighbors" (Scott). 

317. Fall the worst. If the worst befall that can happen. Cf. Shake- 
speare, M. of^ V. i. 2. 96 : " an the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I 
shall make shift to go without him." 

319. But scarce again, t\.z. The MS. reads: 

" The bugle shrill again he wound, 
And lo ! forth starting at the sound ; " 

" A little skiff shot to the bay. 
The hunter left his airy stand. 
And when the boat had touched the sand, 
Concealed he stood amid the brakej 
To view this Lady of the Lake." 

336. Strain. The ist ed. has a comma after strain, and a period after 
art in 340. The ed. of 1821 points as in the text. 

342. Naiad. Water nymph. 

343. And ne'er did Grecian chisel, etc. The MS. reads : 

" A finer form, a fairer face, 
Had never marble Nymph or Grace, 
That boasts the Grecian chisel's trace ; " 

and in 359 below, " a stranger tongue." 

353. Measured mood. The formal manner required by court eti- 
quette. 

360. Dear. This is the reading of the ist ed. and almost every other 
that we have seen. We are inclined, however, to believe that Scott 
wrote " clear." The facsimiles of his handwriting show that his ^'s 
and cVs might easily be confounded by a compositor. 

363. Snood. The fillet or ribbon with which the Scotch maidens 
bound their hair. See on iii. 114 below. It is the rich materials of 
snood, plaid, and brooch that betray her birth. 

The rhyme of plaid with maid and betrayed is not imperfect, the Scot- 
tish pronunciation of //^/^ being like onx played. 

385. One only. For the inversion, cf. Shakespeare, f' C. i. 2. 157: 
•* When there is in it but one only man ; " Goldsmith, D. V. 39 : '* One 
only master grasps the whole domain," etc. 



CANTO I. 189 

393. Awhile she paused, etc. The MS. reads : 

'* A space she paused, no answer came, — 
'Alpine, was thine the blast?' the name 
Less resolutely uttered fell. 
The echoes could not catch the swell. 
* Nor foe nor friend,' the stranger said, 
Advancing from the hazel shade. 
The startled maid, with hasty oar, 
Pushed her light shallop from the shore." 

and just below : 

" So o'er the lake the swan would spring, 
Then turn to prune its ruffled wing." 

404. Prime. Pick out damaged feathers and arrange the plumage 
with the bill. Cf. Shakespeare, Cymb.v. 4. 118: 

" his royal bird 
Prunes the immortal wing," etc. 

408. Wont. Are wont, or accustomed ; now used only in the parti- 
ciple. The form here is the past tense of the obsolete won, or wone, 
to dwell. The present is found in Milton^ P. L. vii. 457 : 

" As from his lair the wild beast, where he wons 
In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den." 

Cf. Spenser, VirgiVs Gnat: 

" Of Poets Prince, whether he woon beside 
Faire Xanthus sprincled with Chimaeras blood, 
Or in the woods of Astery abide ; " 

and Colin Clouts Come Ho7ne Againe : 

" I weened sure he was our God alone, 
And only woond in fields and forests here." 

See also iv. 278 and 298 below. 

409. Middle age. As James died at the age of thirty (in 1542), this is 
not strictly true, but the portrait in other respects is quite accurate. 
He was fond of going about disguised, and some of his freaks of this 
kind are pleasantly related in Scott's Tales of a Grandfather. See on 
vi. 740 below. 

425. Slighting, etc. "Treating lightly his need of food and shelter." 

432. At length. The ist ed. has " at last." 

433. That Highland halls were, etc. The MS. has " Her father's 
hall was," etc. 

434. Wildered. See on 274 above. 

438. A couch. That is, the heather for it. Cf. 666 below. 

441 . Mere. Lake ; as in Windermere, etc. 

443. Rood. Cross, or crucifix. By the rood was a common oath ; 
so by the holy rood, as in Shakespeare, Rich. III. iii. 2. 77, iv. 4. 165. 
Cf. the name of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. See ii. 221 below. 

451. Romantic. The MS. has "enchanting." 

457. Yesternight. We have lost this word, though we retSLin yester- 
day. CL yester-morn in v. 104 below. As far = as far back as. 

460. Was on, etc. The MS. reads : " Is often on the future bent." 

" If force of evidence could authorize us to believe facts inconsistent 
with the general laws of nature, enough might be produced in favor of 



190 NOTES. 

the existence of the second-sight. It is called in Gaelic Taishitaraugh, 
from Taish, an unreal or shadowy appearance ; and those possessed of 
the faculty are called Taishatrm, which may be aptly translated vision- 
aries. Martin, a steady believer in the second-sight, gives the following 
-account of it : — 

' The second-sight is a singular faculty of seeing an otherwise invis- 
ible object without any previous means used by the person that uses it 
for that end : the vision makes such a lively impression upon the seers, 
that they neither see nor think of any thing else, except the vision, as 
long as it continues ; and then they appear pensive or jovial, according 
to the object that was represented to them. 

* At the sight of a vision, the eyelids of the person are erected, and 
the eyes continue staring until the object vanish. This is obvious to 
others who are by when the persons happen to see a vision, and oc- 
curred more than once to my own observation, and to others that were 
with me. . . . 

* If a woman is seen standing at a man's left hand, it is a presage that 
she will be his wife, whether they be married to others, or unmanned 
at the time of the apparition. 

' To see a spark of fire fall upon one's arm or breast is a forerunner 
of a dead child to be seen in the arms of those persons ; of which there 
are several fresh instances. . . . 

' To see a seat empty at the time of one's sitting in it, is a presage of 
that person's death soon after ' {Martin's Description of the Western 
Islands, 1716, 8vo, p. 300, et seq.). 

" To these particulars innumerable examples might be added, all 
attested by grave and credible authors. But, in despite of evidence 
which neither Bacon, Boyle, nor Johnson were able to resist, the 
Taish, with all its visionary properties, seems to be now universally 
abandoned to the use of poetry. The exquisitely beautiful poem of 
Lochiel will at once occur to the recollection of every reader" (Scott). 

462. Birchen. Shaded by birches. Cf. Milton's " cedarn alleys " 
in Comiis, 990. 

464. Lincoln green. A cloth made in Lincoln, much worn by hunters. 

467. Heron. The early eds. have " heron's." 

475. Errant-knight. Knight-errant. 

476. Sooth. True. We find soothest in Milton, Comtis, 823. The 
noun sooth (truth) is more common, and still survives in soothsayer 
(teller of hidden truth). Cf. v. 64 below. 

478. Emprise. Enterprise. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 39: ''But give 
me leave to follow my emprise," etc. 

485. His noble hand. The MS. has " This gentle hand; and in the 
next line, "the oars he drew." 

490. Freqttent. Often ; one of the many instances of the adjective 
used adverbially in the poem. 

492. The rocky isle. It is still known as Ellen'' s Isle. " It is rather 
high, and irregularly pyramidal. It is mostly composed of dark-gray 
rocks, mottled with ])ale and gray lichens, peeping out here and there 
amid trees that mantle them, — chiefly light, graceful birches, inter- 
mingled with red-berried mountain ashes and a few dark-green, spiry 



CANTO I. 191 

pines. The landing is beneath an aged oak ; and, as did the Lady and 
the Knight, the traveller now ascends 'a clambering unsuspected road,' 
by rude steps, to the small irregular summit of the island. A more 
poetic, romantic retreat could hardly be imagined: it is unique. It is 
completely hidden, not only by the trees, but also by an undergrowth of 
beautiful and abundant ferns and the loveliest of heather " [Hunnewell's 
Lands of Scott). 

500. Wiftded. Wound; used for the sake of the measure, as in 
V. 22 below. We find the participle winded in Much Ado, i. i. 243, 
but it is = blown. The verb in that sense is derived from the noun 
%vind (air in motion), and has no connection with wind, to turn. Cf. Wb 

504. Here for retreat, etc. Scott has the following note here: 

"The Celtic chieftains, whose lives were continually exposed to peril, 
had usually, in the most retired spot of their domains, some place of 
retreat for the hour of necessity, which, as circumstances would admit, 
was a tower, a cavern, or a rustic hut, in a strong and secluded situa- 
tion. One of these last gave refuge to the unfortunate Charles Edward, 
in his perilous wanderings after the battle of Culloden. 

* It was situated in the face of a very rough, high, and rocky moun- 
tain, called Letternilichk, still a part of Benalder, full of great stones 
and crevices, and some scattered wood interspersed. The habitation 
called the Cage, in the face of that mountain, was within a small thick 
bush of wood. There were first some rows of trees laid down, in order 
to level the floor for a habitation; and as the place was steep, this 
raised the lower side to an equal height with the other: and these 
trees, in the way of joists or planks, were levelled with earth and gravel. 
There were betwixt the trees, growing naturally on their own roots, 
some stakes fixed in the earth, which, with the trees, were interwoven 
with ropes, made of heath and birch twigs, up to the top of the Cage, 
it being of a round or rather oval shape ; and the whole thatched and 
covered over with fog. The whole fabric hung, as it were, by a large 
tree, which reclined from the one end, "all along the roof, to the other, 
and which gave it the name of the Cage ; and by chance there hap- 
pened to be two stones at a small distance from one another, in the 
side next the precipice, resembling the pillars of a chimney, where the 
fire was placed. The smoke had its vent out here, all along the fall of 
the rock, which was so much of the same color, that one could discover 
no difference in the clearest day ' [Home'' s History of the Rebellion, 
Lond. 1802, 4to, p. 381)." 

525. Idcean vine. Some have taken this to refer to the "red whortle- 
berry," the botanical name of which is Vacciniuni vitis Idcea ; but as 
that is not a climber, it is more probable that the common vine is here 
meant. Idcean is from Ida, a mountain near ancient Troy (there was 
another in Crete), famous for its vines. 

526. Clematis. The Clematis vitalba, one of the popular English 
names of which is virgin-bower. 

528. And every favored plant could bear. That is, which could endure. 
This ellipsis of the relative was very common in Elizabethan English. 
Cf. Shakespeare, M-fo^-^M. ii. 2. 23: "I have a brother is condemned 
to die;" Rich. II. \\. 2. 128: "The hate of those love not the king," 
etc. See 2X^0 John, iii. 11, etc.. 



192 NOTES. 

532. On heaven and on thy lady call. This is said gayly, or sportively, 
as keeping up the idea of a knight-errant. Cf. 475 above. 

542. Careless. See on 490 above. 

546. Target. Buckler ; the targe of iii. 445, etc. See Scott's note 
on v. 380 below. 

548. Store. Stored, laid up; an obsolete adjective. Cf. iii. 3 below, 
and see also on vi. 124. 

551. And there the wild-cafs, etc. The MS. reads : 

"There hung the wild-cat's brindled hide, 
Above the elk's branched brow and skull, 
And frontlet of the forest bull." 

559. Garnish forth. Qi. furnish forth in 442 above. 

566. Brook. Bear, endure ; now seldom used except with reference 
to what is endured against one's will or inclination. It seems to be a 
favorite word with Scott. 

573. Ferragus or Ascabart. " These two sons of Anak flourished in 
romantic fable. The first is well known to the admirers of Ariosto by 
the name of Ferrau. He was an antagonist of Orlando, and was at 
length slain by him in single combat. . . . Ascapart, or Ascabart, makes 
a very material figure in the History of Bevis of Hampton, by whom 
he was conquered. His effigies may be seen guarding one side of the 
gate at Southampton, while the other is occupied by Bevis himself " 
(Scott). 

580. To zuhom, though more than kindred knew. The MS. reads : 

" To whom, though more remote her claim, 
Young Ellen gave a mother's name." 

She was the maternal aunt of Ellen, but was loved as a mother by her, 
or more than (such) kindred (usually) knew (in way of affection). 

585. Though all unasked, etc. " The Highlanders, who carried hos- 
pitality to a punctilious excess, are said to have considered it as churl- 
ish to ask a stranger his name or lineage before he had taken refresh- 
ment. Feuds were so frequent among them, that a contrary rule would 
in many cases have produced the discovery of some circumstance which 
might have excluded the guest from the benefit of the assistance he 
stood in need of" (Scott). 

591. Snowdoun. An old name of Stirling Castle. See vi. 789 below. 

592. Lord of a barren heritage. "By the misfortunes of the earlier 
Jameses, and the internal feuds of the Scottish chiefs, the kingly power 
had become little more than a name. Each chief was a petty king in 
his own district, and gave just so much obedience to the king's author- 
ity as suited his convenience " (Taylor). 

596. Wot. Knows ; the present of the obsolete wit (the infinitive 
to wit is still used in legal forms), not of wect, as generally stated. See 
Matzner, Eng. Gram. i. 382. Cf. Shakespeare, Rich. III. ii. 3. 18: 
" No, no, good friends, God wot." He also uses wots (as in Hen. V. 
iv. I. 299) and a participle wotting (in W. T. iii. 2. 77). 

602. Requi7'e, Request, ask; as in Elizabethan English. Cf. Shake- 
speare, Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 144 : " In humblest manner I require your high- 
ness," etc. 

603. The elder lady's mien. The MS. has " the mother's easy mien." 



CANTO I. 193 

606. Ellen, though more, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Elleiij though more her looks betrayed 
The simple heart of mountain maid, 
In speech and gesture, form and grace, 
Showed she was come of gentle race ; 
'T was strange, in birth so rude, to find 
Such face, such manners, and such mind. 
Each anxious hint the stranger gave, 
The mother heard with silence grave." 

616. Weird women we, ttc. See on 35 above. /^/>^ here = skilled 
in witchcraft; like the "weird sisters " of Macbeth. Down = hill (the 
Gaelic dun). 

622. A harp unseen. Scott has the following note here : 

*' ' " They [the Highlanders] delight much in musicke, but chiefly in 
harps and clairschoes of their own fashion. The strings of the clair- 
schoes are made of brasse wire, and the strings of the harps of sinews ; 
which strings they strike either with their nayles, growing long, or else 
with an instrument appointed for that use. They take great pleasure 
to decke their harps and clairschoes with silver and precious stones ; 
the poore ones that cannot attayne hereunto, decke them with christall. 
They sing verses prettily compound, contayning (for the most part) 
prayses of valiant men. There is not almost any other argument, where- 
of their rhymes intreat. They speak the ancient French language, 
altered a little." 1 

'The harp and clairschoes are now only heard of in the Highlands in 
ancient song. At what period these instruments ceased to be used, is 
not on record ; and tradition is silent on this head. But, as Irish harp- 
ers occasionally visited the Highlands and Western Isles till lately, 
the harp might have been extant so late as the middle of the present 
century. Thus far we know, that from remote times down to the pres- 
ent, harpers were received as welcome guests, particularly in the High- 
lands of Scotland ; and so late as the latter end of the sixteenth century, 
as appears by the above quotation, the harp was in common use 
among the natives of the Western Isles. How it happened that the 
noisy and inharmonious bagpipe banished the soft and expressive harp, 
we cannot say ; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is now the only instru- 
ment that obtains universally in the Highland districts ' ( CampbelVs 
Journey throiigh North Britain. London, 1808, 4to, i. 175). 

"Mr. Gunn, of Edinburgh, has lately published a curious Essay upon 
the Harp and Harp Music of the Highlands of Scotland. That the 
instrument was once in common use there, is most certain. Cleland 
numbers an acquaintance with it among the few accomplishments which 
his satire allows to the Highlanders : — 

* In nothing they 're accounted sharp. 
Except in bagpipe or in harp.' " 

624. Soldier, rest ! etc. The metre of this song is trochaic ; that js, 
the accents fall regularly on the odd syllables. 

^ Vide Certayne Matters concerning the Realme of Scotland, etc., as they were 
Anno Domini x^^-j. London, 1603. 

13 



194 NOTES. 

631. In slumbej' dewmg. That is, bedewing. For the metaphor, cf- 
Shakespeare, Rich. III. iv. i. 84: "the golden dew of sleep;" and 
/. C. ii. I. 230: "the honey-heavy dew of slumber." 

635. Morn of toil, etc. The MS. has " Noon of hunger, night of 
waking ; " and in the next line, " rouse " for reach. 

638. Pibroch. "A Highland air, suited to the particular passion 
which the musician would either excite or assuage ; generally applied 
to those airs that are played on the bagpipe before the Highlanders 
when they go out to battle " (Jamieson). Here it is put for the bagpipe 
itself. See also on ii. 363 below. 

642. And the bittern sound his drum. Goldsmith [D. V. 44) calls the 
bird " the hollow-sounding bittern ; " and in his Animated A'atnre, he 
says that of all the notes of waterfowl " there is none so dismally hol- 
low as the booming of the bittern." 

648. She paused, etc. The MS. has "She paused — but waked again 
the lay." 

655. The MS. reads : " Slumber sweet our spells shall deal 3-e ; " and 
in 657 : 



" Let our slumbrous spells \ ^^\^^^l' ,^ » 



657. Reveille. The call to rouse troops or huntsmen in the morning. 
669. Forest sports. The MS. has "mountain chase." 
672. N'ot Ellen'' s spell. That is, not even Ellen's spell. 
On the passage, cf. Rokeby, i. 2 : 

" Sleep came at length, but with a train 
Of feelings true and fancies vain, 
Mingling, in wild disorder cast, 
The expected future with the past." 

693. Or is it all a vision now? Lockhart quotes here Thomson's 
Castle of Indolence : 

"Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear, 

From these foul demons shield tho midnight gloom : 
Angels of fancy and of love, be near. 

And o'er the blank of sleep diffuse a bloom : 
Evoke the sacred shades of Greece and Rome, 

And let them virtue with a look impart ; 
But chief, awhile, O ! lend us from the tomb 

Those long-lost friends for whom in love we smart, 
And fill with pious awe and joy-mixt woe the heart. 

" Or are you sportive ? — bid the morn of youth 

Rise to new light, and beam afresh the days 
Of innocence, simplicity, and truth; 

To cares estranged, and manhood's thorny ways. 
What transport, to retrace our boyish plays. 

Our easy bliss, when each thing joy suj^plied ; 
The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze 

Of the wild brooks ! " 

the Critical Review says of the following stanza (xxxiv) : " Such ? 
strange and romantic dream as may be naturally expected to flow from 
the extraordinary events of the past day. It might, perhaps, be quoted 
as one of Mr. Scott's most successful efforts in descriptive poetry. 
Some few lines of it are indeed unrivalled for delicacy and melancholy 
tenderness." 



CANTO II. 195 

704. Grisly. Grim, horrible ; an obsolete word, much used in old 
poetry. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 30 : " her darke griesly looke ; " Shake- 
speare, I Hen. VI. i. 4. 47 : " My grisly countenance made others fly," 
etc. See also iv. 322, etc. below. 

723. Played, etc. The MS. reads : 

(J -r,! J ( the bosom of the lake, 
l^layed on | Lq^j^ Katrine's still expanse ; 
The birch, the wild rose, and the broom 
Wasted around their rich perfume . . . 
The birch-trees wept in balmy dew ; 
The aspen slept on Benvenue ; 
Wild were the heart whose passions' power 
Defied the influence of the hour." 

724. Passion^ s. The reading of the ist ed. and that of 1821 ; some 
recent eds. have '"passions'." 

738. Orisons. The ist ed. has "orison" both here and in 740 (the 
ed. of 1821 only in the latter) ; but the word is almost invariably plural, 
both in poetry and prose — always in Shakespeare and Milton. 



CANTO SECOI^D. 

7. A minstrel gray. " That Highland chieftains, to a late period, re- 
tained in their service the bard, as a family officer, admits of very easy 
proof. The author of the Letters from the North of Scotland, an offi- 
cer of engineers, quartered at Inverness about 1720, who certainly can- 
not be deemed a favorable witness, gives the following account of the 
office, and of a bard, whom he heard exercise his talent of recitation : — 
' The bard is skilled in the genealogy of all the Highland families, 
sometimes preceptor to the young laird, celebrates in Irish verse the 
original of the tribe, the famous warlike actions of the successive heads, 
and sings his own lyricks as an opiate to the chief, when indisposed 
for sleep ; but poets are not equally esteemed and honored in all coun- 
tries. I happened to be a witness of the dishonour done to the muse, 
at the house of one of the chiefs, where two of these bards were set 
at a good distance, at the lower end of a long table, with a parcel of 
Highlanders of no extraordinary appearance, over a cup of ale. Poor 
inspiration ! They were not asked to drink a glass of wine at our table, 
though the whole company consisted only of the great man, one of his 
near relations, and myself. After some little time, the chief ordered 
one of them to sing me a Highland song. The bard readily obeyed, 
and with a hoarse voice, and in a tune of few various notes, began, as 
I was told, one of his own lyricks ; and when he had proceeded to the 
fourth or fifth stanza, I perceived, by the names of several persons, 
glens, and mountains, which I had known or heard of before, that it 
was an account of some clan battle. But in his going on, the chief 
(who piques himself upon his school-learning) at some particular pas- 
sage, bid him cease, and cryed out, " There 's nothing like that in Virgil 



196 NOTES. 

or Homer." I bowed, and told him I believed so. This you may 
believe was very edifying and delightful ' " (Scott). 

15. Than men^ etc. " It is evident that the old bard, with his second- 
sight, has a glimmering notion who the stranger is. He speaks below 
[311] of ' courtly spy,' and James's speech had betrayed a knowledge 
of the Douglas " (Taylor). 

20. Battled. The reading of the ist ed. and that of 1821 ; "battle " 
in most others. Cf. i. 626 above. 

22. Where beauty, etc. The MS. has "At tourneys where the brav-e 
resort." The reference is to the tournaments, " Where," as Milton says 
(V Allegro, 119J, 

" throngs of knights and barons bold, 
In weeds of peace, high triumphs hold, 
With store of ladies, whose bright eyes 
Rain influence, and judge the prize 
Of wit or arms, while both contend 
To win her grace whom all commend." 
Cf. 87 below. 

26. Love's. The reading of the ist ed. and that of 182 1; most eds. 
have " love." 

29. Plaided. The plaid was properly the dress of a Highlander., 
though it was worn also in the Lowlands. 

51. The Harper 07t the islet beach. " This picture is touched with the 
hand of the true poet " (Jeffrey). 

56. As from. As if from. Cf. 64 and 83 below. This ellipsis was 
common in Elizabethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 28 : 

" One cried ' God bless us ! ' and 'Amen ' the other. 
As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." • 

65. In the last sound. For the measure, see on i. 73 above. 

69. His fleet. That is, of ducks. Cf. i. 239 above. 

80. Would scorn. Who would scorn. See on i. 528 above. 

84. Turned him. See on i. 142 above, and cf. 106 below. 

86. After. Afterwards; as in Shakespeare, Temp. \\. 2. 10: "And 
after bite me," etc. The word is not now used adverbially of time, 
though we may say " he followed after," etc. The ist ed. reads " that 
knight." 

94. Farts. Departs ; as often in poetry and earlier English. Cf. 
Goldsmith, D. F". 171 : " Beside the bed where parting life was laid ; " 
Gray, Elegy, i : " the knell of parthig day," etc. On the other hand, de- 
part was used in the sense oipart. In the Marriage Service " till death 
us do part " is a corruption of "till death us depart." Wiclif's Bible, 
in Matt. xix. 6, has " therfor a man departe not that thing that God 
hath ioyned." 

103. Another step, etc. The MS. has "The loveliest Lowland fair 
to spy; " and the ist ed. reads " The step of parting fair to spy." 

109. The Grafne. Scott has the following note here : " The ancient 
and powerful family of Graham (which, for metrical reasons, is here 
spelled after the Scottish pronunciation) held extensive possessions in 
the counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. Few families can boast of 
more historical renown, having claim to three of the most remarkable 



CANTO IT. 197 

characters in the Scottish annals. Sir John the Graeme, the faithful 
and undaunted partaker of the labors and patriotic warfare of Wallace, 
fell in the unfortunate field of Falkirk, in 1298. The celebrated Mar^ 
quis of Montrose, in whom De Retz saw realized his abstract idea of 
the heroes of antiquity, was the second of these worthies. And, not- 
withstanding the severity of his temper, and the rigor with which he 
executed the oppressive mandates of the princes whom he served, I do 
not hesitate to name as the third, John Grseme, of Claverhouse, Viscount 
of Dundee, whose heroic death, in the arms of victory, may be allowed 
to cancel the memory of his cruelty to the non-conformists, during the 
reigns of Charles II. and James II." 

112. Bower. The word meant a chamber (see on i. 217 above), and 
was often used of the ladies' apartments in a house. In hall and bower 
= among men and women. The words are often thus associated. Cf. 
Spenser, Astrophel, 28 : " Merily masking both in bowre and hall," etc, 

115. Arose. The ist ed. misprints "Across;" not noted in the 
Errata. 

126. And the proud inarch. See on i. 73 above. 

131. Saint Modan. A Scotch abbot of the 7th century. Scott says 
here : " I am not prepared to show that Saint Modan was a performer 
on the harp. It was, however, no unsaintly accomplishment ; for 
Saint Dunstan certainly did play upon that instrument, which retaining, 
as was natural, a portion of the sanctity attached to its master's charac- 
ter, announced future events by its spontaneous sound. * But labouring 
once in these mechanic arts for a devout matrone that had sett him on 
work, his violl, that hung by him on the wall, of its own accord, without 
anie man's helpe, distinctly sounded this anthime : Gaudent in ccelis 
animce sanctorum qui Christi vestigia sunt secuti; ei qtiia pro eius amore 
sangtcinem suum fuderttnt, ideo cum Christo gaudent ceternum. Whereat 
all the companie being much astonished, turned their eyes from behold- 
ing him working, to looke on that strange accident. . . . Not long 
after, manie of the court that hitherunto had born a kind of fayned 
friendship towards him, began now greatly to envie at his progresse 
and rising in goodness, usmg manie crooked, backbiting meanes to 
diffame his vertues with the black markes of hypocrisie. And the 
better to authorise their calumnie, they brought in this that happened in 
the violl, affirming it to have been done by art magick. What more ? 
this wicked rumour encreased dayly, till the king and others of the 
nobilitie taking hould thereof, Dunstan grew odious in their sight. 
Therefore he resolued to leaue the court, and goe to Elphegus, sur- 
named the Bauld, then bishop of Winchester, who was his cozen. 
Which his enemies understanding, they layd wayte for him in the way, 
and hauing throwne him off his horse, beate him, and dragged him in 
the durt in the most miserable manner, meaning to have slaine him, 
had not a companie of mastiue dogges, that came unlookt uppon them, 
defended and redeemed him from their crueltie. When with sorrow 
he was ashamed to see dogges more humane than they. And giuing 
thankes to Almightie God, he sensibly againe perceaued that the tunes 
of his violl had giuen him a warning of future accidents ' [Flower oj 



igS 



NOTES. 



the Lives of the most renowned Saincts of E)igland, Scotland^ and Ireland) 
by the R. Father Hierome Porter. Do way, 1632. 4to. tome i. p. 438). 

" The same supernatural circumstance is alluded to by the anony. 
mous author of Gritn, the Collier of Croydon : 



\_Dii7ista7i's harp sounds on the 'wall.'\ 



' Forrest. Hark, hark, my lord, the holy abbot's harp 
Sounds by itself so hanging on the wall ! 

' Dunstan. Unhallow'd man, that scorn' st the sacred rede, 
Hark, how the testimony of my truth 
Sounds heavenly music with an angel's hand, 
To testify Dunstan's integrity, 
And prove thy active boast of no effect.' " 

141. BothivelVs bannered hall. The picturesque ruins of Bothwell 
Castle stand on the banks of the Clyde, about nine miles above Glas- 
gow. Some parts of the walls are 14 feet thick, and 60 feet in heigiit. 
They are covered with ivy, wild roses, and wall-flowers. 

"The tufted grass lines Bothwell's ancient hall, 
The fox peeps cautious from the creviced wall. 
Where once proud Murray, Clydesdale's ancient lord, 
A mimic sovereign, held the festal board." 

142. Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. Scott says : " The downfall of 
the Douglases of the house of Angus, during the reign of James V., 
is the event alluded to in the text. The Earl of Angus, it will be re- 
membered, had married the queen dowager, and availed himself of the 
right which he thus acquired, as well as of his extensive power, to 
retain the king in a sort of tutelage, which approached very near to 
captivity. Several open attempts were made to rescue James from 
this thraldom, with which he was well known to be deeply disgusted; 
but the valor of the Douglases, and their allies, gave them the vic- 
tory in every conflict. At length, the king, while residing at Falkland, 
contrived to escape by night out of his own court and palace, and rode 
full speed to Stirling Castle, where the governor, who was of the oppo- 
site faction, joyfully received him. Being thus at liberty, James speed- 
ily summoned around him such peers as he knew to be most inimical 
to the domination of Angus, and laid his complaint before them, says 
Pitscottie, ' with great lamentations : showing to them how he was 
holden in subjection, thir years bygone, by the Earl of Angus, and his 
kin and friends, who oppressed the whole country, and spoiled it, under 
the pretence of justice and his authority; and had slain many of his 
lieges, kinsmen, and friends, because they would have had it mended 
at their hands, and put him at liberty, as he ought to have been, at the 
counsel of his whole lords, and not have been subjected and corrected 
with no particular men, by the rest of his nobles: Therefore, said he, 
I desire, my lords, that I may be satisfiecl of the said earl, his kin, and 
friends; for I avow, that Scotland shall not hold us both, while \i.e. tillj 
I be revenged on him and his. 

' The lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, and also the 
great rage, fury, and malice, that he bure toward the Earl of Angus, his 
kin and friends, they concluded all and thought it best, that he should 
be summoned to underly the law; if he fand not caution, nor yet com- 



CANTO II. 199 

pear himself, that he should be put to the horn, with all his kin and 
friends, so many as were contained in the letters. And further, the 
lords ordained, by advice of his majesty, that his brother and friends 
should be summoned to find caution to underly the law within a cer- 
tain day, or else be put to the horn. But the earl appeared not, nor 
none for him ; and so he was put to the horn, with all his kin and 
friends : so many as were contained in the summons, that compeared 
not, were banished, and holden traitors to the king.' " 

159. Frojn Tweed to Spey. From the Tweed, the southern boundary 
of Scotland, to the Spey, a river far to the north in Inverness-shire ; 
that is, from one end of the land to the other. 

170. Reave. Tear away. The pai'ticiple reft is still used, at least 

in poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, V. and A. 766; "Or butcher-sire that 

■ reaves his son of life " (that is, bereaves) ; Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 36: " He 

to him lept, in minde to reave his life;" Id. ii. 8. 15: "I will him 

reave of arms," etc. 

178. It drmks, etc. The MS. has " No blither dewdrop cheers the 
rose." 

195, 196. To see . . . dance. This couplet is not in the MS. 

200. The Lady of the Bleedijig Heart. The bleeding heart was the 
cognizance of the Douglas family. Robert Bruce, on his death-bed, 
bequeathed his heart to his friend, the good Lord James, to be borne 
in war against the Saracens. " He joined Alphonso, King of Leon and 
Castile, then at war with the Moorish chief Osurga, of Granada, and in 
a keen contest with the Moslems he flung before him the casket con- 
taining the precious relic, crying out, 'Onward as thou wert wont, thou 
noble heart, Douglas will follow thee.' Douglas was slain, but his 
body was recovered, and also the precious casket, and in the end 
Douglas was laid with his ancestors, and the heart of Bruce deposited 
in the church of Melrose Abbey " [Burton^ s Hist, of Scotland), 

201. Fair. The ist ed. (and probably the MS., though not noted by 
Lockhart) has "Gay." 

203. Yet is this, etc. The MS. and ist ed. read : 

"This mossy rock, my friend, to me 
Is worth gay chair and canopy." 

205. Footstep. The reading of the ist and other early eds. ; "foot- 
steps " in recent ones. 

206. Strathspey. A Highland dance, which takes its name from the 
strath, or broad valley, of the Spey (159 above). 

213. Clan- Alpine'' s pride. "The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine, in- 
cludes several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth McAlpine, an 
ancient king. These are the Macgregors, the Grants, the Mackies, 
the Mackinnans, the MacNabs, the MacQuarries, and the Macaulays. 
Their common emblem was the pine, which is now confined to the 
Macgregors" (Taylor). 

214. Loch Lomond. This beautiful lake, "the pride of Scottish 
lakes," is about 23 miles in length and 5 miles in its greatest breadth. 
At the southern end are many islands, one of which, Inch-Cailliach 
(the Island of Women, so called from a nunnery that was once upon it), 
was the burial-place of Clan-Alpine. See iii. 191 below. 



20O NOTES. 

216. A Lennox foray. That is, a raid in the lands of the Lennox 
family, bordering on the southern end of Loch Lomond. On the island 
of Inch-Mm-rin, the ruins of Lennox Castle, formerly a residence of the 
Earls of Lennox, are still to be seen. There was another of their 
strongholds on the shore of the lake near Balloch, where the modern 
Balloch Castle now stands. 

217. Her glee. The ist ed. misprints "his glee;" not noted in the 
Errata. 

220. Black Sir Roderick. Roderick Dhic, or the Black, as he was 
called. 

221. In Holy-Rood a knight he slew. That is, in Holyrood Palace. 
" This was by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Court of Scot- 
land; nay, the presence of the sovereign himself scarcely restrained the 
ferocious and inveterate feuds which were the perpetual source of 
bloodshed among the Scottish nobility " (Scott). 

223. Coicrtiers give place, tic. The MS. reads : 

" Courtiers give place with heartless stride 
Of the retiring homicide." 

227. Who else, etc. The MS. has the following couplet before this 
line: 

" Who else dared own the kindred claim 
That bound him to thy mother's name?" 

229. The Douglas, etc. Scott says here : " The exiled state of this 
powerful race is not exaggerated in this and subsequent passages. The 
hatred of James against the race of Douglas was so inveterate, that 
numerous as their allies were, and disregarded as the regal authority 
had usually been in similar cases, their nearest friends, even in the 
most remote part of Scotland, durst not entertain them, unless under 
the strictest and closest disguise. James Douglas, son of the banished 
Earl of Angus, afterwards well known by the title of Earl of Morton, 
lurked, during the exile of his family, in the north of Scotland, under 
the assumed name of James Innes, otherwise James the Grieve {i.e. reve 
or bailiff). 'And as he bore the name,' says Godscroft, 'so did he 
also execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the lands and rents, 
the corn and cattle of him with whom he lived.' From the habits of 
frugality and observation which he acquired in his humble situation, 
the historian traces that intimate acquaintance with popular character 
which enabled him to rise so high in the state, and that honorable 
economy by which he repaired and established the shattered estates of 
Angus and Morton [History of the Hoiise of Douglas, Edinburgh, 1743, 
vol. ii. p. 160)." 

235. Guerdon. Reward; now rarely used except in poetry. Cf. 
Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 59 : " That glory does to them for guerdon graunt," 
etc. 

236. Dispensation. As Roderick and Ellen were cousins, they could 
not marry without a dispensation from the Pope. 

251. 07'phan. Referring to child, not to she, as its position indicates. 

254. Shrouds. Shields, protects. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. I. 6: "And 

this faire couple eke to shroud themselves were fain " (that is, from the 



CANTO II, 20 1 

rain). So the noun = shelter, protection; as in Shakespeare, A. and C. 
iii. 13. 71: "put yourself under his shroud," etc. See also on 757 
below. 

260. Maronnan's cell. "The parish of Kilmaronock, at the eastern 
extremity of Loch Lomond, derives its name from a cell, or chapel, dedi- 
cated to Saint Maronock, or Marnock, or Maronnan, about whose 
sanctity very little is now remembered" (Scott). A"z7/=cell; as in 
Cobnekill {Macb. ii, 4. 33), " the cell of Columba," now known as Icolm- 
kill, or lona. 

270. Bracklimt's thimderin^ wave. This beautiful cascade is on the 
Keltic, a mile from Callander. The height of the fall is about fifty 
feet. " A few years ago a marriage party of Lowland peasants met 
with a tragic end here, two of them having tumbled into the broken, 
angry waters, where they had no more chance of life than if they had 
dropped into the crater of Hecla" (Black). 

271. Save. Unless; here followed by the subjunctive. 

274. Claymore. The word means "a large sword" (Gaelic claid- 
heamh, sword, and more, great). 

294. Shadowy plaid and sable plume. Appropriate to Roderick Dhu. 
See on 220 above. 

303. Woe the while. Woe be to the time, alas the time ! Cf. Shake- 
speare, J. C. i. 3. 82 : " But, woe the while ! our fathers' minds are 
dead," etc. See also on i. 166 above. 

306. Tine-man. *' Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfor- 
tunate in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of 'tine-man,' 
because he lined, or lost, his followers in every battle which he fought. 
He was vanquished, as every reader must remember, in the bloody 
battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, where he himself lost an eye, and 
was made prisoner by Hotspur. He was no less unfortunate when 
allied with Percy, being wounded and taken at the battle of Shrews- 
bury. He was so unsuccessful in an attempt to besiege Roxburgh 
Castle, that it was called the ' Foul Raid,' or disgraceful expedition. 
His ill fortune left him indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France ; but it 
was only to return with double emphasis at the subsequent action of 
Vernoil, the last and most unlucky of his encounters, in which he fell, 
with the flower of the Scottish chivalry, then serving as auxiliaries in 
France, and about two thousand common soldiers, A. D. 1424" (Scott). 

307. IVhal lime, etc. That is, at the time when Douglas allied him- 
self with Percy in the rebellion against Henry IV. of England. See 
Shakespeare, i I/e7z. IV. 

309. Did, self-uiiscabbarded, etc. Scott says here: 

" The ancient warriors, whose hope and confidence rested chiefly in 
their blades, were accustomed to deduce omens from them, especially 
from such as were supposed to have been fabricated by enchanted skill, 
of which we have various instances in the romances and legends of the 
time. The wonderful sword Skofnung, wielded by the celebrated 
Hrolf Kraka, was of this description. It was deposited in the tomb of 
the monarch at his death, and taken from thence by Skeggo, a cele- 
brated pirate, who bestowed it upon his son-in-law, Kormak, with the 
following curious directions: '"The manner of using it will appear 



202 NOTES. 

strange to you. A small bag is attached to it, which take heed not to 
violate. Let not the rays of the sun touch the upper part of the handle, 
nor unsheathe it, unless thou art ready for battle. But when thou com- 
est to the place of fight, go aside from the rest, grasp and extend the 
sword, and breathe upon it. Then a small worm will creep out of the 
handle ; lower the handle, that he may more easily return into it." 
Kormak, after having received the sword, returned home to his 
mother. He showed the sword, and attempted to draw it, as unneces- 
sarily as ineffectually, for he could not pluck it out of the sheath. His 
mother, Dalla, exclaimed, " Do not despise the counsel given to thee, 
my son." Kormak, however, repeating his efforts, pressed down the 
handle with his feet, and tore off the bag, when Skofnung emitted a 
hollow groan ; but still he could not unsheathe the sword. Kormak 
then went out with Bessus, whom he had challenged to fight with him. 
and drew apart at the place of combat. He sat down upon the ground, 
and ungirding the sword, which he bore above his vestments, did not re- 
member to shield the hilt from the rays of the sun. In vain he endeav- 
ored to draw it, till he placed his foot against the hilt; then the worm 
issued from it. But Kormak did not rightly handle the weapon, in con- 
sec[uence whereof good fortune deserted it. As he unsheathed Skof- 
nung, it emitted a hollow murmur' {Bartholini de Catisis ContcmptcE a 
Danis adhnc Gentilibus Morfis, Libri Tres. Hafniae, 1689, 4to, p. 574). 

" To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, I beg leave to 
add, from memory, the following legend, for which I cannot produce 
any better authority. A young nobleman, of high hopes and fortune, 
chanced to lose his way in the town which he inhabited, the capital, if I 
mistake not, of a German province. He had accidentally involved him- 
self among the narrow and winding streets of a suburb, inhabited by the 
lowest order of the people, and an approaching thunder-shower deter- 
mined him to ask a short refuge in the most decent habitation that was 
near him. He knocked at the door, which was opened by a tall man, 
of a grisly and ferocious aspect, and sordid dress. The stranger was 
readily ushered to a chamber, where swords, scourges, and machines, 
which seemed to be implements of torture, were suspended on the wall. 
One of these swords dropped from its scabbard, as the nobleman, after 
a moment's hesitation, crossed the threshold. His host immediately 
stared at him with such a marked expression, that the young man could 
not help demanding his name and business, and the meaning of his 
looking at him so fixedly. 'I am,' answered the man, 'the public exe- 
cutioner of this city; and the incident you have observed is a sure au- 
gury that I shall, in discharge of my duty, one day cut off your head 
with the weapon which has just now spontaneously unsheathed itself.' 
The nobleman lost no time in leaving his place of refuge; but, engaging 
in some of the plots of the period, was shortly after decapitated by that 
very man and instrument. 

" Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the Letters from Scotland 
(vol. ii. p 214), to have affirmed that a number of swords that hung up 
in the hall of the mansion-house, leaped of themselves out of the scab- 
bard at the instant he was born. The story passed current among his 
clan, but, like that of the story I have just quoted, proved an unfortu- 
nate omen." 



CANTO II. 203 

311. If courtly spy hath, t\z. The ist ed. has "If courtly spy, and 
harbored," etc. The ed. of 1821 reads "had harbored." 

319. Beltane. The first of May, when there was a Celtic festival in 
honor of the sun. Beltane =Beal-teht, or the fire of Beal, a Gaelic name 
for the sun. It was celebrated by kindling fires on the hill-tops at 
night, and other ceremonies, followed by dances and merry-making. 
Cf. 410 below. See also The Lord of the Isles, i. 8 : " The shepherd 
lights his beltane-fire ; " and Glenfinlas : 

" But o'er his hills, in festal day, . 

How blazed Lord Ronald's beltane-tree !" 

323. But hark ! etc. " The moving picture —the effect of the sounds 
— and the wild character and strong peculiar nationality of the whole 
procession, are given with inimitable spirit and power of expression " 
(Jeffrey). 

327. The canna's hoary beard. The down of the canna, or cotton- 
grass. 

335. Glengyle. A valley at the northern end of Loch Katrine. 

337. Briajichoil. A promontory on the northern shore of the lake. 

342. Spears, pikes, and axes. The ist ed. and that of 1821 have 
Spears, but all the recent ones misprint " Spear." The " Globe " ed. 
has " Spear, spikes," etc. 

343. Tartans. The checkered woollen cloth so much worn in Scot- 
land. Curiously enough, the name is not Gaelic but French. See 
Jamieson or Wb. 

Brave. Fine, beautiful ; the same word as the Scottish brazv. Cf. 
Shakespeare, Sonn. 12. 2: "And see the brave day sunk in hideous 
night;" Ham. ii. 2. 312: "This brave o'erhanging firmament," etc. 
It is often used of dress, as also is bravery (= finery) ; as in T. of S. 
iv. 3. 57 : " With scarfs and fans and double change of bravery." See 
also Spenser, Mother Hiibberds Tale, 858 : " Which oft maintain'd his 
masters braverie " (that is, dressed as well as his master). 

351. Chanters. The pipes of the bagpipes, to which long ribbons 
were attached. 

357. The sounds. Misprinted "the sound" in the ed. of 1821, and all 
the more recent eds. that we have seen. Cf. 363 below. 

363. Those thrilliiig sounds, etc. Scott says here: " The connoisseurs 
in pipe-music affect to discover in a well-composed pibroch, the imita- 
tive sounds of march, conflict, flight, pursuit, and all the ' current of a 
heady fight.' To this opinion Dr. Beattie has given his suffrage, in 
the following elegant passage: — '' h. pibroch is a species of tune, pecu- 
liar, I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is 
performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its 
rhythm is so irregular, and its notes, especially in the quick movement, 
so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it impossible to 
reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its modulation. Some of these 
pibrochs, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave 
motion, resembling a march; then gradually quicken into the onset; 
run off with noisy confusion, and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the con- 
flict and pm^suit ; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy; 



204 NOTES. 

and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral proces- 
sion ' {Essay on Laughter and Ltidici'ous Co7nposition, chap. iii. note)." 

367. Hurrying. Referring to tJieir, or rather to the them implied in 
that word. 

392. The burden bore. That is, sustained the burden, or chorus, of 
the song. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 381 : " And, sweet sprites, the 
burden bear." 

399. Hail to the Chief, etc. The metre of the song is dactylic ; the 
accents being on the ist, 4th, 7th, and loth syllables. It is little used 
in English. Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade and Longfellow's 
Skeleton in Armor are familiar examples of it. 

405. BourgeoTi. Bud. Cf. Fairfax, Tasso, vii. 76 : " When first on 
trees bourgeon the blossoms soft ; " and Tennyson, Ln Memoriatn, 115 : 

" Now burgeons every maze of quick 
About the flowering squares," etc. 

408. Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu. " Besides his ordinary name and 
surname, which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the Lowlands, 
every Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity 
as head of the clan, and which was common to all his predecessors and 
successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt, or Arsaces to those of 
Parthia. This name was usually a patronymic, expressive of his de- 
scent from the founder of the family. Thus the Duke of Argyll is 
called MacCallum More, or the son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, 
however, it is derived from armorial distinctions, or the memory of 
some great feat ; thus Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or 
Clan-Kennet, bears the epithet of Caber-fae, or Bttck's Head, as repre- 
sentative of Colin Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the 
Scottish king, when endangered by a stag. But besides this title, which 
belonged to his office and dignity, the chieftain had usually another 
peculiar to himself, which distinguished him from the chieftains of the 
same race. This was sometimes derived from complexion, as dhjt or 
roy ; sometimes from size, as beg or 7nore ; at other times, from some 
peculiar exploit, or from some peculiarity of habit or apj^earance. The 
line of the text therefore signifies, 

Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. 

" The song itself is intended as an imitation of thtjorrams, or boat 
songs, of the Highlanders, which were usually composed in honor of 
a favorite chief. They are so adapted as to keep time with the sweep 
of the oars, and it is easy to distinguish between those intended to be 
sung to the oars of a galley, where the stroke is lengthened and doubled, 
as it were, and those which were timed to the rowers of an ordinary 
boat" (Scott). 

410. Beltane. See on 319 above. 

415. Roots him. See on i. 142 above. 

416. Breadalbane. The district north of Loch Lomond and around 
Loch Tay. The seat of the Earl of Breadalbane is Taymouth Castle, 
near the northern end of Loch Tay. 

For Menteith, see on i. 89 above. 



CANTO II. 



205 



419. Glen Fruin. A valley to the southwest of Loch Lomond. The 
ruins of the castle of Benuchara, or Bannochar (see on 422 just below), 
still overhang the entrance to the glen. 

Glen Luss is another valley draining into the lake, a few miles from 
Glen Fruin, and Ross-dhu is on the shore of the lake, midway between 
the two. Here stands a tower, the only remnant of the ancient castle 
of the family of Luss, which became merged in that of Colquhoun. 




BEN LOMOND, FROM LUSS. 



422. The best of Loch Lomond, etc. Scott has the following note 
here : 

" The Lennox, as the district is called which encircles the lower 
extremity of Loch Lomond, was peculiarly exposed to the incursions of 
the mountaineers, who inhabited the inaccessible fastnesses at the 
upper end of the lake, and the neighboring district of Loch Katrine. 
These were often marked by circumstances of great ferocity, of which 
the noted conflict of Glen Fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a 
clan-battle, in which the Macgregors, headed by Allaster Macgregor, 
chief of the clan, encountered the sept of Colquhouns, commanded by 
Sir Humphry Colquhoun of Luss. It is on all hands allowed that the 
action was desperately fought, and that the Colquhouns were defeated 
with slaughter, leaving two hundred of their name dead upon the field. 
But popular tradition has added other horrors to the tale. It is said 
that Sir Humphry Colquhoun, who was on horseback, escaped to the 
Castle of Benechra, or Bannochar, and was next day dragged out and 
murdered by the victorious Macgregors in cold blood. Buchanan of 
Auchmar, however, speaks of his slaughter as a subsequent event, and 
as perpetrated by the Macfarlanes. Again, it is reported that the 
Macgregors murdered a number of youths, whom report of the intended 
battle had brought to be spectators, and whom the Colquhouns, anx- 
ious for their safety, had shut up in a barn to be out of danger. One 



2o6 NOTES. 

account of the Macgregors denies this circumstance entirely ; another 
ascribes it to the savage and bloodthirsty disposition of a single indi- 
vidual, the bastard brother of the Laird of Macgregor, who amused 
himself with this second massacre of the innocents, in express disobe- 
dience to the chief, by whom he was left their guardian during the 
pursuit of the Colquhouns. It is added that Macgregor bitterly la- 
mented this atrocious action, and prophesied the ruin which it must 
bring upon their ancient clan. . . . 

"The consequences of the battle of Glen Fruin were very calamitous 
to the family of Macgregor, who had already been considered as an 
unruly clan. The widows of the slain Colquhouns, sixty, it is said, in 
number, appeared in doleful procession before the king at Stirling, 
each riding upon a white palfrey, and bearing in her hand the bloody 
shirt of her husband displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so much 
moved by the complaints of this ' choir of mourning dames,' that he 
let loose his vengeance against the Macgregors without either bounds 
or moderation. The very name of the clan was proscribed, and those 
by whom it had been borne were given up to sword and fire, and 
absolutely hunted down by bloodhounds like wild beasts. Argyll and 
the Campbells, on the one hand, Montrose, with the Grahames and 
Buchanans, on the other, are said to have been the chief instruments in 
suppressing this devoted clan. The Laird of Macgregor surrendered 
to the former, on condition that he Avould take him out of Scottish 
ground. But, to use Birrel's expression, he kept * a Highlandman's 
promise ; ' and, although he fulfilled his word to the letter, by carrying 
him as far as Berwick, he afterwards brought him back to Edinburgh, 
where he was executed with eighteen of his clan {Birrel's Diary, 2d 
Oct. 1603). The clan Gregor being thus driven to utter despair, seem 
to have renounced the laws from the benefit of which they were ex- 
cluded, and their depredations produced new acts of council, confirming 
tire severity of their proscription, which had only the effect of rendering 
them still more united and desperate. It is a most extraordinary proof 
of the ardent and invincible spirit of clanship, that, notwithstanding 
the repeated proscriptions providently ordained by the legislature, 'for 
the timeous preventing the disorders and oppression that may fall out 
by the said name and clan of Macgregors, and their followers,' they 
were, in 171 5 and 1745, a potent clan, and continue to subsist as a 
distinct and numerous race." 

426. Leven-glen. The valley of the Leven, which connects Loch 
Lomond with the Clyde. 

431. The rosebud. That is, Ellen. "Note how this song connects 
Allan's forebodings with Roderick's subsequent offer" (Taylor). 

444. And chorus zvild, etc. The MS. has "The chorus to the chief- 
tain's fame." 

476. Weeped. The form is used for the rhyme. Cf. note on i. 500 
above. 

477. Nor while, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue 
Her filial greetings eager hung, 
Marked not that awe (affection's proof) 
Still held 3'on gentle youth aloof; 



CANTO IL 



207 




INCHMAHONE ISLAND, LAKE MENTEITH. 



No ! not till Douglas named his name. 
Although the youth was Malcolm Grseme. 
Then with flushed cheek and downcast eye, 
Their greeting was confused and shy." 

40c;. Bothwell. See on 141 above. , . , , , 

497 Percy's Norman pennon. Taken in the raid which led to the 
battle of Otterburn, in Northumberland, in the year 1388, and which 
forms the theme of the ballads of Chevy Chase, 

501. Pomp. Triumphal procession; the original meaning oi pomp. 

504. The waned crescent. The Buccleuch family, defeated in their 
attempt to restore the king. For the crescent as the Buccleuch badge, 
■see our ed. of Lay of Last Minstrel, p. 225. 

506. Blantyre. A priory, the ruins of which are still to be seen on a 
height above the Clyde, opposite Bothwell Castle. 

521. The dogs, etc The MS. has " The dogs with whimpering notes 

repaid." . 

C2S. U7ihooded. The falcon was carried on the wrist, with its head 
covered, or hooded, until the prey was seen, when it was unhooded for 
flight. Cf. vi. 665 below. 

526. Trust. Believe me. . 

527. Goddess. The MS. has " huntress ; " that is, Diana. 

534. Stature fair. The reading of the ist ed. and that of 1821 ; 
" stature tall " in most of the other eds. 

541. The ptarmigan. Awhitehnd. 

543. Menteith. See on i. 89 above. 

548. Ben Lomond. This is much the highest (3192 feet) of the moun- 
tains on the shores of Loch Lomond. The following lines on the ascent 



2o8 NOTES. 

were scratched upon the window-pane of the old inn at Tarbet a hun- 
dred years or more ago : 

"Trust not at first a quick adventurous pace ; 
Six miles its top points gradual from its base ; 
Up the high rise with panting haste I past, 
And gained the long laborious steep at last; 
More prudent thou — when once you pass the deep, 
With cautious steps and slow ascend the steep." 

549. N'ot a sob. That is, without panting, or getting out of breath, 
lilce the degenerate modern tourist. 

574. Gleitfinlas. A wooded valley between Ben-an and Benledi, the 
entrance to which is between Lochs Achray and Vennachar. It is 
the scene of Scott's ballad, Glenjinlas, or Lord Ronald's Coronach. A 
mile from the entrance are the falls of the Herd's Targe. See iv. 84 
below. 

577. Still a royal ward. Still under age, with the king for guardian. 

583. Strath-Endrick. A valley to the southeast of Loch Lomond, 
drained by Endrick Water. 

584. Peril aiLght. Incur any peril. Milton uses the verb intransi 
tively in Reason of Church Goverjunent, ii. 3 : " it may peril to staiu 
itself." 

587. Not itt action. The ist ed. has "nor in action." 

594. News. Now generally used as a singular ; but in old writers both 
as singular and as plural. Cf. Shakespeare, K. John, iii. 4. 164: "at 
that news he dies ; " and Id. v. 7. 65 : "these dead news," etc. 

601. As. As if. See on 56 above. 

606. Glozing. "^\\z.\. glosses over the truth, not plain and outspoken. 
Sometimes it means to flatter, or deceive with smooth words ; as in 
Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 14: 

" For he could well his glozing speaches frame 
To such vaine uses that him best became ; " 

Smith, Sermons (a. D. 1609) : " Every smooth tale is not to be be- 
lieved; and every glosing tongue is not to be trusted ; " Milton, P. L. iii. 
93 : " his glozing lies ; " Id. ix. 549 : " So glozed the Tempter ; " Comtis, 
i6i : "well-placed words of glozing courtesy," etc. 

615. The King''s vindictive pride, etc. Scott says here: "In 1529, 
James made a convention at Edinburgh, for the purpose of considering 
the best mode of quelling the Border robbers, who, during the license 
of his minority, and the troubles which followed, had committed many 
exorbitances. Accordingly he assembled a flying army of ten thousand 
men, consisting of his principal nobility and their followers, who were 
directed to bring their hawks and dogs with them, that the monarch 
might refresh himself with sport during the intervals of military execu- 
tion. With this array he swept through Ettrick Forest, where he 
hanged over the gate of his own castle Piers Cockburn of Henderland, 
who had prepared, according to tradition, a feast for his reception. 
He caused Adam Scott of Tushielaw also to be executed, who was dis- 
tinguished by the title of King of the Border. But the most noted 
victim of justice during that expedition was John Armstrong of Gil- 
nockie, famous in Scottish song, who, confiding in his own supposed 



CANTO II. 209 

innocence, met the King, with a retinue of thirty-six persons, all of 
whom were hanged at Carlenrig, near the source of the Teviot. The 
effect of this severity was such, that, as the vulgar expressed it, ' the 
rush-bush kept the cov/,' and ' thereafter was great peace and rest 
a long time, wherethrough the King had great profit ; for he had ten 
thousand sheep going in the Ettrick Forest in keeping by Andrew Bell, 
who made the King as good count of them as they had gone in the 
bounds of Fife ' [Fitscotiie's History, p. 153)-" 

623. Meggafs mead. The Meggat, or Megget, is a mountain stream 
flowing into the Yarrow, a branch of the Ettrick, which is itself a branch 
of the Tweed. The Teviot is also a branch of the Tweed. 

627. The dales, etc. The MS. has " The dales where clans were 
wont to bide." 

634. By fate of Border chivalry. Scott says: "James was, in fact, 
equally attentive to restrain rapine and feudal oppression in every part 
of his dominions. * The King past to the isles, and there held justice 
courts, and punished both thief and traitor according to their demerit. 
And also he caused great men to show their holdings, wherethrough he 
found many of the said lands in non-entry ; the which he confiscate and 
brought home to his own use, and afterwards annexed them to the 
crown, as ye shall hear. Syne brought many of the great men of 
the isles captive with him, such as Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of 
the Lewes, M'Neil, M'Lane, MTntosh, John Mudyart, M'Kay, M'Kenzie, 
with many other that I cannot rehearse at this time. Some of them 
he put in ward and some in court, and some he took pledges for good 
rule in time coming. So he brought the isles, both north and south, in 
good rule and peace ; wherefore he had great profit, service, and obe- 
dience of people a long time hereafter; and as long as he had the heads 
of the country in subjection, they lived in great peace and rest, and 
there was great riches and policy by the King's justice ' {Pitscottie, 
p. 152)." 

638. Your counsel. That is, give me your counsel. Streight='%\.X2S.\.. 

659. The Bleeding Heart. See on 200 above. 

662. Quarry. See on i. 127 above. 

672. To wife. For wife. Cf. Shakespeare, Tenip.W. 1.75: "such 
a paragon to their queen ; " Rich. II. iv. i. 306 : " I have a king here 
to my flatterer," etc. See also Matt. iii. 9, Luke, iii. 8, etc. 

674. Enow. The old plural of enough ; as in Shakespeare, Hen. V. 
iv. I. 240 : '* we have French quarrels enow," etc. 

678. The Links of Forth. The windings of the Forth between Stirling 
and Alloa. 

679. Stirling's porch. The gate of Stirling Castle. 
683. Blench. Start, shrink. 

685. Heat. Misprinted "heart" in many eds. 
690. From pathless glen. The MS. has "from hill and glen." 
692. There are who have. For the ellipsis, cf. Shakespeare, Te7?tp.\i, 
I. 262 : " There be that can rule Naples," etc. See also iii. 10 below. 
694. That beetled o'er. Qi. Hamlet, \. 4. ji: 

" the dreadful summit of the cliff 
That beetles o'er his base ?nto the sea." 

14 



2IO NOTES. 

696. Their dangerous dreafn. The MS. has ''their desperate dream." 

702, Battled. Battlemented ; as in vi. 7 below. 

703. It waved. That it waved ; an ellipsis very common in Elizabe- 
than and earlier English. Cf. 789 below. 

708. Astound. Astounded. This contraction of the participle (here 
used for the sake of the rhyme) was formerly not uncommon in verbs 
ending in «(' and A Thus in Shakespeare we find the participles /^^rt'/ 
[Ham. iii. 4. 182), enshield {M. for AI. ii. 4. 80), taint (i Hen. VI. v„ 
3. 183), etc. 

710. Crossing. Conflicting. 

716. Ere. The ist ed. misprints "e'er." 

731. Level. Aim; formerly a technical term. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 
286 : ''The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of a pen- 
knife," etc. 

747. Nighted. Benighted. It is to be regarded as a contraction of 
that word; like lated for belated in Macbeth, iii. 3. 6, etc. Nighted 
(=dark, black) in Hamlet, i. 2. 68 (" thy nighted colour ") is an adjec- 
tive formed from the noun night. 

757. Checkered shroud. Tartan plaid. The original meaning of 
shroud (see Wb.) was garment. 

763. Parting. Departing. See on 94 above. 

768. So deep, etc. According to Lockhart, the MS. reads: 

" The deep-toned anguish of despair 
Flushed, in fierce jealousy, to air; " 

but we suspect that " Flushed " should be " Flashed." 
774. So lately. At the " Beltane game " (319 above). 
781. Thus as they strove, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Thus, as they strove, each better hand 
Grasped for the dagger or the brand." 

786. I hold, etc. Scott has the following note on the last page of the 
1st ed. : " The author has to apologize for the inadvertent appropria- 
tion of a whole line from the tragedy of Douglas: 'I hold the first 
who strikes my foe.'" 

789. His daughter s hand, etc. For the ellipsis of that, see on 703 
above. Deemed is often misprinted " doomed." 

791. Sulleti and sloxvly, etc. The MS. reads: 

' " Sullen and slow the rivals bold 

Loosed at his hest their desperate hold, 
But either still on other glared," etc. 

795. Brands. A pet word with Scott., Note how often it has been 
used already in the poem. 

798. As faltered. See on 601 above. 

801. Pity ^twere, etc. Scott says here : " Hardihood was in every re- 
spect so essential to the character of a Highlander, that the reproach of 
effeminacy was the most bitter which could be thrown upon him. Yet 
it was sometmies hazarded on what we might presume to think slight 
grounds. It is reported of old Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, when 
upwards of seventy, that he was surprised by night on a hunting o\ 
military expedition. He wrapped him in his plaid, and lay con- 



CANTO II. 211 

tentedly down upon the snow, with which the ground happened to be 
covered. Among his attendants, who were preparing to take their rest 
in the same manner, he observed that one of his grandsons, for his 
better accommodation, had rolled a large snow-ball, and placed it below 
his head. The wrath of the ancient chief was awakened by a symptom 
of what he conceived to be degenerate luxury. ' Out upon thee,' said 
he, kicking the frozen bolster from the head which it supported, ' art 
thou so effeminate as to need a pillow?' The officer of engineers, 
whose curious Letters from the Highlands have been more than once 
quoted, tells a similar story of Macdonald of Keppoch, and subjoins the 
following remarks : 'This and many other stories are romantick; but 
there is one thing, that at first thought might seem very romantick, of 
which I have been credibly assured, that when the Highlanders are con- 
strained to lie among the hills, in cold dry windy weather, they some- 
times soak the plaid in some river or burn (/'. e. brook), and then holding 
up a corner of it a little above their heads, they turn themselves round 
and round, till they are enveloped by the whole mantle. They then lay 
themselves down on the heath, upon the leeward side of some hill, 
where the wet and the warmth of their bodies make a steam, like that 
of a boiling kettle. The wet, they say, keeps them warm by thickening 
the stuff, and keeping the wind from penetrating. I must confess I 
should have been apt to question this fact, had I not frequently seen 
them wet from morning to night, aiul, even at the beginning of the rain, 
not so much as stir a few yards to shelter, but continue in it without 
necessity, till they were, as we say, wet through and through. And that 
is soon effected by the looseness and spunginess of the plaiding ; but 
the bonnet is frequently taken off, and wrung like a dishclout, and then 
put on again. They have been accustomed from their infancy to be 
often wet, and to take the water like spaniels, and this is become a 
second nature, and can scarcely be called a hardship to them, insomuch 
that I used to say, they seemed to be of the duck kind, and to love 
water as well. Though I never saw this preparation for sleep in windy 
weather, yet, setting out early in a morning from one of the huts, I 
have seen the marks of their lodging, where the ground has been free 
from rime or snow, which remained all round the spot where they had 
lain' [Letters from Scotland, Lond. 1754, 8vo, ii. p. 108)." 

809. His henchman. Scott quotes again the Letters from Scotland 
(ii. 159) : " This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be ready, upon all 
occasions, to venture his life in defence of his master ; and at drinking- 
bouts he stands behind his seat, at his haunch, from whence his title is 
derived, and watches the conversation, to see if any one offends his 
patron. An English officer being in company with a certain chieftain, 
and several other Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, had an argu- 
ment with the great man ; and both being well warmed with usky 
[whiskey], at last the dispute grew very hot. A youth who was hench- 
man, not understanding one word of English, imagined his chief was 
insulted, and thereupon drew his pistol from his side, and snapped it at 
the officer's head : but the pistol missed fire, otherwise it is more than 
probable he might have suffered death from the hand of that little 
vermin. But it is very disagreeable to an Englishman over a bottle 



212 NOTES. 

with the Highlanders, to see every one of them have his gilly, that is, 
his servant, standing behind him all the while, let what will be the 
subject of conversation." 

829. On the morn. Modifying should circle, not the nearer verb had 
STVorn. 

831. The Fiery Cross. See on iii. 18 below. 

846. Point. Point out, appoint. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 14. 6 : 

" Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell, 
Pointing to each his thunder, rain, and wind." 

The word in this and similar passages is generally printed "'point " by 
modern editors, but it is not a contraction of appoint. 

860. Then plunged, etc. The MS. has "He spoke, and plunged into 
the tide." 

862. Steered him. See on i. 142 above. 

865, 866. Darkening . . . gave. In the ist ed. these lines are joined 
to what precedes, as they evidently should be j in all the more recent 
eds. they are joined to what follows. 



CANTO THIRD. 

3. Store. See on i. 548 above. 

5. That be. In old English, besides the present tense am, etc., there 
was also this form be, from the Anglo-Saxon beon. The 2d person 
singular was beest. The ist and 3d person plural be is often found in 
Shakespeare and the Bible. 

10. Yet live there still, etc. See on ii. 692 above. 

15 What time. Cf. ii. 307 above. 

17. The gathering sound. The sound, or signal, for the gathering. 
The phrase illustrates the diiference between the participle and the 
verbal noun (or whatever it may be called) in -ing. Cf. "a laboring 
man" and "a laboring dav" {Julius Ccesar, i. 1.4); and see our ed. of 
/. C. p. 126. 

\^.^ The Fiery Cross. Scott says here : " When a chieftain designed 
to summon his clan, upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew 
a goat, and making a cross of any light wood, seared its extremities in 
the fire, and extinguished them in the blood of the animal. This was 
called the Fiery Cross, also Crean Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, be- 
cause disobedience to what the symbol implied, inferred infamy. It 
was delivered to a swift and trusty messenger, who ran full speed with 
it to the next hamlet, where he presented it to the principal person, 
with a single word, implying the place of rendezvous. He who received 
the symbol was bound to send it forward, with equal despatch, to the 
next village ; and thus it passed with incredible celerity through all the 
district which owed allegiance to the chief, and also among his allies 
and neighbors, if the danger was common to them. At sight of the 
Fiery Cross, every man, from sixteen years old to sixty, capable of 



CANTO III, 213 

bearing arms, was obliged instantly to repair, in his best arms and 
accoutrements, to the place of rendezvous. He who failed to appear 
suffered the extremities of fire and sword, which were emblematically de- 
nounced to the disobedient by the bloody and burnt marks upon this 
warlike signal. During the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross often 
made its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the whole 
district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in three hours. The 
late Alexander Stewart, Esq., of Invernahyle, described to me his hav- 
ing sent round the Fiery Cross through the district of Appine, during 
the same commotion. The coast was threatened by a descent from two 
English frigates, and the flower of the young men were with the army 
of Prince Charles Edward, then in England; yet the summons was 
so effectual that even old age and childhood obeyed it ; and a force 
was collected in a few hours, so numerous and so enthusiastic, that all 
attempt at the intended diversion upon the country of the absent war- 
riors was in prudence abandoned, as desperate." 

19. The Slimmer dawn's reflected hue, etc. Mr. Ruskin says {Modern 
Painters, iii. 278) : " And thus Nature becomes dear to Scott in a three- 
fold way : dear to him, first, as containing those remains or memories 
of the past, which he cannot find in cities, and giving hope of Praeto- 
rian mound or knight's grave in every green slope and shade of its deso- 
late places ; dear, secondly, in its moorland liberty, which has for him 
just as high a charm as the fenced garden had for the mediaeval ; . . . 
and dear to him, finally, in that perfect beauty, denied alike in cities and 
in men, for which every modern heart had begun at last to thirst, and 
Scott's, in its freshness and power, of all men's most earnestly. 

" And in this love of beauty, observe that the love of color is a leading 
element, his healthy mind being incapable of losing, under any mod- 
ern false teaching, its joy in brilliancy of hue. ... In general, if he 
does not mean to say much about things, the one character which he 
will give is color, using it with the most perfect mastery and faithful- 
ness." 

After giving many illustrations of Scott's use of color in his poetry, 
Ruskin quotes the present passage, which he says is " still more in- 
teresting, because it has no form in it at all except in one word [chalice), 
but wholly composes its imagery either of color, or of that delicate 
half-believed life which we have seen to be so important an element in 
modern landscape." 

" Two more considerations," he adds, " are, however, suggested by 
the above passage. The first, that the love of natural history, excited 
by the continual attention now given to all wild landscape, heightens 
reciprocally the interest of that landscape, and becomes an impor- 
tant element in Scott's description, leading him to finish, down to the 
minutest speckling of breast, and slightest shade of attributed emotion, 
the portraiture of birds and animals ; in strange opposition to Homer's 
slightly named ' sea-crows, who have care of the works of the sea,' and 
Dante's singing-birds, of undefined species. Compare carefully the 2d 
and 3d stanzas of Rokeby. 

"The second point I have to note is Scott's habit of drawing a 
slight moral from every scene, . . . and that this slight moral is almost 



214 NOTES. 

always melancholy. Here he has stopped short without entirely ex- 
pressing it : 

' The mountain-shadows . . 
........ lie 

Like future joys to Fancy's eye.' 

His completed thought would be, that these future joys, like the moun- 
tain-shadows, were never to be attained. It occurs fully uttered in many 
other places. He seems to have been constantly rebuking his own 
v/orldly pride and vanity, but never purposefully : 

' The foam-globes on her eddies ride, 
Thick as the schemes of human pride 
That down life's current drive amain, 
As frail, as frothy, and as vain.' " 

Ruskin adds, among other illustrations, the reference to "foxglove 
and nightshade " in i. 218, 219 above. 

28. Like future Joys, etc. This passage, quoted by Ruskin above, also 
illustrates what is comparatively rare in figurative language — taking 
the immaterial to exemplify the material. The latter is constantly used 
to symbolize or elucidate the former ; but one would have to search 
long in our modern poetry to find a dozen instances where, as here, the 
relation is reversed. Cf. 639 below. We have another example in 
the second passage quoted by Ruskin. Cf. also Tennyson's 

" thousand wreaths of dangling water-smoke, 
That like a broken purpose waste in air ; " 

and Shelley's 

" Our boat is asleep on Serchio's stream ; 
Its sails are folded like thoughts in a dream." 

30. Reared. The ist ed. has " oped." 

32. After this line the MS. has the couplet, 

" Invisible in fleecy cloud, 
The lark sent down iier matins loud," 

which reappears in altered form below. 

33. Gray mist. The MS. has "light mist." 

38. Good-morrow gave, ttc. Ci. ^yrow, Childe Harold : 

" and the bills 
Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass." 

39. Cus/iat doz'e. Ring-dove. 

46. His iinpatieiit blade. Note the " transferred epithet." It is not 
the blade that is impatient. 

47. Beneath a rock, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Hard by, his vassals' early care 
The mystic ritual prepare." 

50. Antiquity. The men of old ; " the abstract for the concrete." 
59. With her broad shadow, etc. Cf . Longfellow, Maidenhood : 

" Seest thou shadows sailing by, 
As the do\e, w itii startled eye, 
Sees the falcon's shadow fly ? " 

62. Rowan. The mountain-ash. 



CANTO III, 215 

71. That monk, of savage form and face. Scott says here : " The state 
of religion in the middle ages afforded considerable facilities for those 
whose mode of life excluded them from regular worship, to secure, 
nevertheless, the ghostly assistance of confessors, perfectly willing to 
adapt the nature of their doctrine to the necessities and peculiar cir- 
cumstances of their flock. Robin Hood, it is well known, had his 
celebrated domestic chaplain Friar Tuck. And that same curtal friar 
was probably matched in manners and appearance by the ghostly 
fathers of the Tvnedale robbers, who are thus described in an excom- 
munication fulminated against their patrons by Richard Fox, Bishop 
of Durham, tempore Henrici VIII. : ' We have further understood, that 
there are many chaplains in the said territories of Tynedale and Redes- 
dale, who are public and open maintainers of concubinage, irregular, 
suspended, excommunicated, and interdicted persons, and withal so 
utterly ignorant of letters, that it has been found by those who objected 
this to them, that there were some who, having celebrated mass for ten 
years, were still unable to read the sacramental service. We have also 
understood there are persons among them who, although not ordained, 
do take upon them the offices of priesthood, and, in contempt of God, 
celebrate the divine and sacred rites, and administer the sacraments, 
not only in sacred and dedicated places, but in those which are prophane 
and interdicted, and most wretchedly ruinous, they themselves being 
attired in ragged, torn, and most filthy vestments, altogether unfit to 
be used in divine, or even in temporal offices. The which said chap- 
lains do administer sacraments and sacramental rites to the aforesaid 
manifest and infamous thieves, robbers, depredators, receivers of stolen 
goods, and plunderers, and that without restitution, or intention to re- 
store, as evinced by the act ; and do also openly admit them to the 
rites of ecclesiastical sepulchre, without exacting security for restitution, 
although they are prohibited from doing so by the sacred canons, as 
well as by the institutes of the saints and fathers. All which infers 
the heavy peril of i"heir own souls, and is a pernicious example to the 
other believers in Christ, as well as no slight, but an aggravated injury, 
to the numbers despoiled and plundered of their goods, gear, herds, 
and chattels.' " 

74. Benharrozv. A mountain near the head of Loch Lfomond. 

77. Brook. See on i. 566 above. 

81. The hallowed creed. The Christian creed, as distinguished from 
heathen lore. The MS. has " While the blest creed," etc. 

85. Bound. That is, of his haunts. 

87. Glen or strath. A glen is the deep and narrow valley of a small 
stream, a strath the broader one of a river. 

89. He prayed, etc. The MS. reads : 

" He prayed, with many a cross between, 
And terror took devotion's mien." 

91. Of Brian's birth, etc. Scott says that the legend which follows 
is not of his invention, and goes on to show that it is taken with slight 
variation from " the geographical collections made by the Laird of 
Macfarlane." 



2l6 NOTES, 

I02. Bucklered. Served as a buckler to, shielded. 

114. Snood. Cf. i. 363 above. Scott has the following note here ; 
*' The s7zood, or riband, with which a Scottish lass braicled her hair, 
had an emblematical signification, and applied to her maiden character. 
It was exchanged for the curch, toy, or coif, when she passed, by mar- 
riage, into the matron state. But if the damsel was so mifortunate 
as to lose pretensions to the name of maiden, without gaining a right 
to that of matron, she was neither permitted to use the snood, nor ad- 
vanced to the graver dignity of the curch. In old Scottish songs there 
occur many sly allusions to such misfortune ; as in the old words to the 
popular tune of ' Ower the muir amang the heather : ' 

' Down amang tlie broom, the broom, 
Down amang the broom, my dearie, 
The lassie lost her silken snood. 

That gard her greet till she was wearie.' " 

120. Or . . . or. For either . . . or, as often in poetry, 
131, Till, frantic, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Till, driven to frenzy, he believed 
The legend of his birth received." 

136. The cloister. Here personified as feminine. 

138. Sable-lettered. "Black-letter;" the technical term for the "old 
English " form of letter, used in the earliest English manuscripts and 
books. 

142. Cabala. Mysteries. For the original meaning of the word, 
see Wb. 

144. Curious. Inquisitive, prying into hidden things. 

148. Hid him. See on i. 142 above. 

149. The desert gave him, etc. Scott says here : " In adopting the 
legend concerning the birth of the Founder of the Church of Kilmallie, 
the author has endeavored to trace the effects which such a belief was 
likely to produce, in a barbarous age, on the person to whom it related. 
It seems likely that he must have become a fanatic or an impostor, or 
that mixture of both which forms a more frequent character than either 
of them, as existing separately. In truth, mad persons are frequently 
more anxious to impress upon others a faith in their visions, than they 
are themselves confirmed in their reality ; as, on the other hand, it is 
difficult for the most cool-headed impostor long to personate an enthu- 
siast, without in some degree believing what he is so eager to have 
believed. It was a natural attribute of such a character as the supposed 
hermit, that he should credit the numerous superstitions with which the 
minds of ordinary Highlanders are almost always imbued. A few of 
these are slightly alluded to in this stanza. The River Demon, or 
River-horse, for it is that form which he commonly assumes, is the 
Kelpy of the Lowlands, an evil and malicious spirit, delighting to fore- 
bode and to witness calamity. He frequents most Highland lakes and 
rivers ; and one of his most memorable exploits was performed upon 
the banks of Loch Vennachar, in the very district which forms the 
scene of our action : it consisted in the destruction of a funeral pro- 
cession, with all its attendants. The * noontide hag,' called in Gaelic 



CANTO III. 217 

Glas-lick, a tall, emaciated, gigantic female figure, is supposed in par- 
ticular to haunt the district of Knoidart. A goblin dressed in antique 
armor, and having one hand covered with blood, called, from that cir- 
cumstance, Lham-dearg, or Red-hand, is a tenant of the forests of 
Glenmore and Rothiemurcus. Other spirits of the desert, all frightful 
in shape and malignant in disposition, are believed to frequent different 
mountains and glens of the Highlands, where any unusual appearance, 
produced by mist, or the strange lights that are sometimes thrown upon 
particular objects, never fails to present an apparition to the imagina- 
tion of the solitary and melancholy mountaineer." 

161. Mankind. Accented on the first syllable; as it is almost in- 
variably in Shakespeare, except in Timon of Athens, where the modern 
accent prevails. Milton uses either accent, as suits the measure. We 
find both in P. L. viii. 358 : " Above mankind, or aught than mankind 
higher." 

166. Alpine's. Some eds. misprint "Alpine;" also " horsemen " in 
172 below. 

168. The fatal Ben- Shie's boding scream. The MS. reads : 

" The fatal Ben-Shie's dismal scream, 
And seen her wrinkled form, the sign 
Of woe and death to Alpine's line." 

Scott has the following note here : " Most great families in the High, 
lands were supposed to have a tutelar, or rather a domestic, spirit, 
attached to them, who took an interest in their prosperity, and inti- 
mated, by its wailings, any approaching disaster. That of Grant of 
Grant was called May Moullach, and appeared in the form of a girl, 
who had her arm covered with hair. Grant of Rothiemurcus had an 
attendant called Bodach-an-du7t, or the Ghost of the Hill ; and many 
other examples might be mentioned. The Ben-Shie implies the female 
fairy whose lamentations were often supposed to precede the death 
of a chieftain of particular families. When she is visible, it is in the 
form of an old woman, with a blue mantle and streaming hair. A super- 
stition of the same kind is, I believe, universally received by the inferior 
ranks of the native Irish. 

" The death of the head of a Highland family is also sometimes sup- 
posed to be announced by a chain of lights of different colors, called 
Dr'eug, or. death of the Druid. The direction which it takes marks the 
place of the funeral." [See the Essay on Fairy Superstitions in Scott's 
Border Minstrelsy \ 

169. Sounds, too, had come, etc. Scott says: "A presage of the kind 
alluded to in the text, is still believed to announce death to the ancient 
Highland family of M'Lean of Lochbuy. The spirit of an ancestor 
slain in battle is heard to gallop along a stony bank, and then to ride 
thrice around the family residence, ringing his fairy bridle, and thus 
intimating the approaching calamity. How easily the eye as well as 
the ear may be deceived upon such occasions, is evident from the stories 
of armies in the air, and other spectral phenomena with which history 
abounds. Such an apparition is said to have been witnessed upon the 
side of Southfell mountain, between Penrith and Keswick, upon the 23d 



2l8 NOTES. 

June, 1744, by two persons, William Lancaster of Blakehills, and 
Daniel Stricket his servant, whose attestation to the fact, with a full 
account of the apparition, dated the 21st July, 1745, is printed in 
Clarke's Siin'ey of the Lakes. The apparition consisted of several 
troops of horse moving in regular order, with a steady rapid motion, 
making a curved sweep around the fell, and seeming to the spectators 
to disappear over the ridge of the mountain. ■Many persons witnessed 
this phenomenon, and observed the last, or last but one, of the sup- 
posed troop, occasionally leave his rank, and pass, at a gallop, to the 
front, when he resumed the same steady pace. The curious appearance, 
making the necessary allowance for imagination, may be perhaps suffi- 
ciently accounted for by optical deception." 

171. Shingly. Gravelly, pebbly. 

173. Thunderbolt. The ist ed. has "thunder too." 

188. F7'amed. The reading of the ist ed. ; commonly misprinted 
"formed," which occurs in 195. 

190. Limbs. The ist ed. has "limb." 

191. Lnch-Cailliach. Scott says : "Lnch-Cailliach, the Isle of Nuns, 
or of Old Women, is a most beautiful island at the lower extremity of 
Loch Lomond. The church belonging to the former nunnery was long 
used as the place of worship for the parish of Buchanan, but scarce any 
vestiges of it now remain. The burial-ground continues to be used, 
and contains the family places of sepulture of several neighboring clans. 
The monuments of the lairds of Macgregor, and of other families 
claiming a descent from the old Scottish King Alpine, are most re- 
markable. The Highlanders are as zealous of their rights of sepulture 
as may be expected from a people whose whole laws and government, 
if clanship can be called so, turned upon the single principle of family 
descent. ' May his ashes be scattered on the water,' was one of the 
deepest and most solemn imprec?"^ons which they used against an 
enemy." [See a detailed description of the funeral ceremonies of a 
Highland chieftain in the Fair Maid of Perthi\ 

203. Dwelling I01.V. That is, burial-place. 

207. Each clansman^s execration, etc. The IMS. reads : 



and below : 



" Our warriors, on his worthless bust, 
Shall speak disgrace and woe ; " 



" Their clattering targets hardly strook; 
And first thev muttered low." 



212. Strook. One of the old forms of struck. In the early eds. of 
Shakespeare, we find struck, stroke, and strook (or strooke) for the past 
tense, and all these, together with stricken, strucken, stroken, and strooken. 
for the participle. Cf. Milton, Hymn on N'ativity, 95 : 

" When such music sweet 
Their hearts and ears did greet 
As never was by mortal finger strook ; " 

where, as here, it is used for the sake of the rhyme. 

214. Then, like the billow, etc. The repetition of the same rh}Tne here 
gives well the cumulative effect of the rising billow. 



CANTO ILL 219 

217. Burst, with loud roar. See on i. 73 above; and cf. 227 below. 

228. Holiest nanic. The MS. has " holy name." 

245. Miiigled with childhood's babbling trill, etc. "The whole of this 
stanza is very impressive ; the mingling of the child7'en''s curses is the 
climax of horror. Note the meaning of the triple curse. The cross is 
of ancestral yew — the defaulter is cut off from communion with 
his clan ; it is seared in the fire — the fire shall destroy his dwelling ; 
it is dipped in blood — his heart's blood is to be shed" (Taylor). 

253. Coir-Uriskin. See on 622 below. 

255. Beala-nam-bo. " The pass of the cattle," on the other side of 
Benvenue from the Goblin's Cave ; " a magnificent glade, overhung with 
birch-trees, by which the cattle, taken in forays, were conveyed within 
the protection of the Trosachs " (Black). 

279. This sign. That is, the cross. To all, which we should not 
expect with bought, was apparently suggested by the antithetical to him 
in the preceding line ; but if all the editions did not read bought, we 
might suspect that Scott wrote broicght. 

281. The mtirmur, etc. The MS. has "The slowly muttered deep 
Amen." 

286. The muster-place, etc. The MS. reads "Murlagan is the spot 
decreed." 

La7trick Mead is a meadow at the northwestern end of Loch Ven- 
nachar. 

300. The dim deer's hide, etc. Scott says : " The present brogue of 
the Highlanders is made of half-dried leather, with holes to admit and 
let out the water ; for walking the moors dry-shod is a matter altogether 
out of question. The ancient buskin was still ruder, being made of 
undressed deer's hide, with the hair outwards, — a circumstance which 
procured the Highlanders the well-known epithet of Red-shanks. The 
process is very accurately described by one Elder (himself a High- 
lander), in the project for a union between England and Scotland, ad- 
dressed to Henry VIII.: * We go a-hunting, and after that we have 
slain red-deer, we flay off the skin by and by, and setting of our bare- 
foot on the inside thereof, for want of cunning shoemakers, by your 
grace's pardon, we play the cobblers, compassing and measuring so 
much thereof as shall reach up to our ankles, pricking the upper part 
thereof with holes, that the water may repass where it enters, and 
stretching it up with a strong thong of the same above our said ankles. 
So, and please your noble grace, we make our shoes. Therefore, we 
using such manner of shoes, the rough hairy side outwards, in your 
grace's dominions of England, we be called Rough-footed Scots^ {Pinker- 
ton^ s History, vol. ii. p. 397)." 

Cf. Marmioiz, v. 5 : 

" The hunted red-deer's undressed hide 
Their hairy buskins well supplied." 

304. Steepy. For the word (see also iv. 374 below) and the line, cf 
Shakespeare, T. of A. i. i. 75: 

** Bowing his head against the steepy mount 
To climb his happiness." 



220 NOTES. 

309. Questing. Seeking its game. Bacon {Adv. of Learning, v. 5) 
speaks of "the questing of memory." 

310. Scaur. Cliff, precipice; tlie same word as scar. Cf. Tenny- 
son's Bugle Song : " O sweet and far, from cliff and scar; " and in the 
Idyls of the King: "shingly scam\" 

314. Herald of battle, etc. The MS. reads: 

"Dread messenger of fate and fear, J 
Herald of danger, fate, and fear, ) 
Stretch onward in thy fleet career ' 
Thou track'st not now the stricken doe, 
Nor maiden coy through greenwood bough." 

322. Fast as the fatal symbol flies, etc. " The description of the star*;- 
ing of the Fiery Cross bears more marks of labor than most of Mr. 
Scott's poetry, and borders, perhaps, on straining and exaggeration; 
yet it shows great power" (Jeffrey). 

332. Cheer. In its original sense of countenance, or look. Cf. Shake- 
speare, M. N. D. iii. 2. 96: "pale of cheer;" Spenser, F. Q. i. i. 2 : 
** But of his cheere did seeme too solemne sad;" Dryden, I/ind and 
Panther., iii. 437 : " Till frowning skies began to change their cheer," etc. 

333. His scythe. The reading of the ist and other early eds. ; "the 
scythe " in more recent ones. 

342. Alas, thou lovely lake! etc. "Observe Scott's habit of looking 
at nature, neither as dead, nor merely material, nor as altered by his 
own feelings ; but as having an animation and pathos of its own, wholly 
irrespective of human passion — an animation which Scott loves and 
sympathizes with, as he would with a fellow creature, forgetting himself 
altogether, and subduing his own humanity before what seems to him 
the power of the landscape. . . . Instead of making Nature anywise 
subordinate to himself, he makes himself subordinate to her — follows 
her lead simply — does not venture to bring his own cares and thoughts 
into her pure and quiet presence — paints her in her simple and uni- 
versal truth, adding no result of momentary passion or fancy, and 
appears, therefore, at first shallower than other poets, being in reality 
wider and healthier" (Ruskin). 

344. Bosky. Bushy, woody. Cf. Milton, Cof?ius, 313: "And every 
bosky bourn from side to side;" Shakespeare, Temp.'w. i, 81 : "My 
bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down," etc. 

347. Seems for the scejte, &\.c. The MS. has "Seems all too lively 
and too loud." 

349. Dunc7'aggan'' s hicts. A homestead between Lochs Achray and 
Vennachar, near the Brigg of Turk. 

355. Shot him. See on i. 142 above. Scott is much given to this 
construction. 

357. The funeral yell, etc. The MS. has "'Tis woman's scream, 'tis 
childhood's wail." 

Yell may at first seem too strong a word here, but it is in keeping 
with the people and the times described. Besides Scott was familiar 
with old English poetry, in which it was often used where a modern 
writer would choose another word. Cf. Surrey, VirgiVs .^neid'. 



CANTO III. 



221 




DUNCRAGGAN. 



" With wailing great and women's shrill yelling;" and Gascoigne, De 
Profundis : 

" From depth of doole wherein my soule dooth dwell, 

O gracious God, to thee I crie and yell." 

362. Torch'' s ray. The ist ed. reads "torches ray" and "supply;" 
corrected in the Errata to read as in the text. Most eds. print " torches' 
ray." 

369, Coronach. Scott has the following note here : " The Coronach of 
the Highlanders, like the Uliilatus of the Romans, and the Uhdoo of the 
Irish, was a wild expression of lamentation, poured forth by the mourn- 
ers over the body of a departed friend. When the words of it were 
articulate, they expressed the praises of the deceased, and the loss the 
clan would sustain by his death. The following is a lamentation of this 
kind, literally translated from the Gaelic, to some of the ideas of which 
the text stands indebted. The tune is so popular that it has since be- 
come the war-march, or gathering of the clan. 

CORONACH ON SIR LAUCHLAN, CHIEF OF MACLEAN. 

' Which of all the Senachies 
Can trace thy line from the root, up to Paradise, 
But Macvuirih, the son of Fergus? 
No sooner had thine ancient stately tree 
Taken firm root in Albin, 
Than one of thy forefathers fell at Harlaw. — 
'Twas then we lost a chief of deathless name. 

' 'T is no base weed — no planted tree, 
Nor a seedling of last Autumn ; 
Nor a sapling planted at Beltain ; * 
Wide, wide around were spread its lofty branches — 
But the topmost bough is lowly laid ! 
Thou hast forsaken us before Sawaine.^ 



* See on ii. 319 above. 



^ Hallowe'en. 



222 NOTES. 

*Thy dwelling is the winter house ; — 
Loud, sad, and mighty is thy death-song ! 
Oh ! courteous champion of Montrose ! 
Oh ! stately warrior of the Celtic Isles ! 
Thou shalt buckle thy harness on no more ! ' 

" The coronach has for some years past been suspended at funerals 
by the use of the bagpipe ; and that also is, like many other Highland 
peculiarities, falling into disuse, unless in remote districts." 

370. He is gone, etc. As Taylor remarks, the metre of this dirge 
seems to be amphibrachic ; that is, made up oi feet, or metrical divi- 
sions, of three syllables, the second of which is accented. Some of the 
lines appear to be anapestic (made up of trisyllabic feet, with the last 
syllable accented) ; but the rhythm of these is amphibrachic ; that is, 
the rhythmic pause is after the syllable that follows the accent. 

"(He) is gone on | the mountain, 
(Like) a summer- | dried fountain." 

Ten lines out of twenty-four are distinctly amphibrachic, as 

"To Duncan | no morrow." 

So that it seems best to treat the rest as amphibrachic, with a super- 
fluous unaccented syllable at the beginning of the line. Taylor adds: 
" The song is very carefully divided. To each of the three things, 
moiintaiii, forest, fountain, four lines are given, in the order 3, i, 2." 

384. Ijt finshing. In full bloom. Cf. Hamlet, iii. 3. 81: "broad 
blown, as flush as May." 

386. Correi. A hollow in the side of a hill, where game usually lies. 

387. Citmber. Trouble, perplexity. Cf. Fairfax, TTzj-j-i?, ii. 73 : "Thus 
fade thy helps, and thus thy cumbers spring ; " and Sir John Harring- 
ton, Epigrams, i. 94 : " without all let [hindrance] or cumber." 

388. Red. Bloody, not afraid of the hand-to-hand fight. 
394. Stumah. '■Faithful ; the name of a dog" (Scott). 
410. AnguSythe heir, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Angus, the first of Duncan's line, 
Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign, 
And then upon his kinsman's bier 
Fell Malise's suspended tear. 
In haste the stripling to his side 
His father's targe and falchion tied." 

439. Hest. Behest, bidding ; used only in poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, 
Temp. iii. i. 37 : " I have broke your hest to say so ; " Id. iv. I, 65 : " at 
thy hest," etc. 

452. Benledi sazu the Cross of Fire, ttc. Scott says here : "Inspection 
of the provincial map of Perthshire, or any large map of Scotland, will 
trace the progress of the signal through the small district of lakes and 
mountains, which, in exercise of my poetical privilege, I have sub- 
jected to the authority of my imaginary chieftain, and which, at the 
period of my romance, was really occupied by a clan who claimed a 
descent from Al])ine, — a clan the most unfortunate and most perse- 
cuted, but neither the least distinguished, least powerful, nor least brave 
of the tribes of the Gael. 



CANTO III. 



2^3 



"The first stage of the Fiery Cross is to Duncraggan, a place near 
the Brigg of Turk, where a short stream divides Loch Achray from 
Loch Vennachar. From thence, it passes towards Callander, and then, 
turning to the left up the pass of Leny, is consigned to Norman at the 
Chapel of Saint Bride, which stood on a small and romantic knoll in 
the middle of the valley, called Strath-Ire. Tombea and Arnandave, or 
Ardmandave, are names of places in the vicinity. The alarm is then 
supposed to pass along the Lake of Lubnaig, and through the various 
glens in the district of Balquidder, including the neighboring tracts of 
Glenfinlas and Strath-Gartney,''' 




THE CHAPE 

453- Strath-Ire. This valley connects Lochs Voil and Lubnaig. The 
Chapel of Saint Bride is about half a mile from the southern end of 
Loch Lubnaig, on the banks of the River Leny, a branch of the Teith 
(hence " Teith's >w/;/^o- waters "). The churchyard, with a few remains 
of the chapel, are all that now mark the spot. 

458. Until, where, etc. The MS. reads : 

" And where a steep and wooded knoll 
Graced the dark strath with emerald green." 

465. Though reeled his sympathetic eye. That is, his eye reeled in 
sympathy with the movement of the waters — a poetic expression of 
what every one has felt when looking into a '* dizzily dancing " stream. 

478. That morning-tide. That morning time. Tide in this sense is 
now used only in a few poetic compounds like eventide, springtide, etc. 
See iv. 59 below. For its former use, cf. Spenser, F. Q. I 2. 29: " and 
rest their weary Imibs a tide; " Id iii. 6. 21 : " that mine may be your 
pame another tide," etc. See also Scott's Lay, vi. 50 : " Me lists not at 
this tide declare." 



524 NOTES. 

483. Bridal. Bridal party; used as a collective noun. 

485. Coif-clad. Wearing the coif, or cnrcJi. See on 114 above; as 
also for suooded. 

488. Univiltiiii^: Unknowing. Cf. 367 above. For the verb xvity see 
on i. 596 above. 

495. Kerchief. Curch, which is etymologically the same word, and 
means a covering for the head. Some eds. print '"kerchief," as if the 
word were a contraction of handkerchief. 

508. Miistcr-place. The ist ed. has "mustering place;" and in 519 
" brooks " for brook. 

510. And must he, etc. The MS- reads: "And must he then ex- 
change the hand." 

528. Lubnaig's lake. Loch Lubnaig is about four miles long and 
a mile broad, hemmed in by steep and rugged mountains. The view 
of Benledi from the lake is peculiarly grand and impressive. 

530. The sickening pang, etc. Cf. 7hc Lord of the Isles, vi. i : " The 
heartsick faintness of the hope delayed." See Frov. xiii. 12. 

531. And memory, etc. The MS. reads: 

"And memory brought the torturing train 
Of all his morning visions vain; 
But mingled witli impatience came 
The manly love of martial fame." 

541. Brae. The broxv or side of a hill. 

545. The heath, etc. The metre of the song is the same as that of 
the ])oem, the only variation being in the order of the rhymes. 

546. Bracken. Fern; " the /V^;-/.?- ^^^///////^j: " (Taylor). 
553. Fancy noiv. The MS. has " image now." 

561. A time will come, etc. The MS. reads : 

" A time will come for love and faith, 
For should thy bridegroom yield his breath, 
'T will cheer him in tlie hour of death, 
The boasted right to thee, Mary." 

570. Balqnidder. A village near the eastern end of Loch Voil, the 
burial-place of Rob Roy and the scene of many of his exploits. The 
Braes extend along the north side of the lake and of the Balvaig \^\v\Q\i 
flows into it. 

Scott says here: " It may be necessary to inform the Southern reader 
that the heath on the Scottish moorlands is often set fire to, that the 
sheep may have the advantage of the young herbage produced, in room 
of the tough old heather plants. This custom (execrated by sportsmen) 
produces occasionally the most beautiful nocturnal apj^earances, similar 
almost to the discharge of a volcano. This simile is not new to poetry. 
The charge of a warrior, in the fine ballad of Ilardyknnte, is said to be 
* like fire to heather set.' " 

575. Nor faster speeds it, etc. "The eager fidelity with which this fatal 
signal is hurried on and obeyed, is represented with great spirit and 
felicity" (Jeffrey). 

577. Coil. Turmoil. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 207 : 

" Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil 
Would not infect his reason ? " 

r. of E. iii. I. 48 : " What a coil is there, Dromio ? " etc. 



CANTO in. ^^S 

579. Loch Doine. A lakelet just above Loch Voil, and almost forming 
a part of it. The epithets sullen and still are peculiarly appropriate to 
this valley. " Few places in Scotland have such an air of solitude and 
remoteness from the haunts of men" (Black). 

582. Strath- Gart7tey. The north side of the basin of Loch Katrine. 

583. Each man might claim. That is, %vho could claim. See on i. 
528 above. 

600. No law but Roderick Dhtc^s command. Scott has the following 
note here : 

" The deep and implicit respect paid by the Highland clansmen to 
their chief, rendered this both a common and a solemn oath. In other 
respects, they were like most savage nations, capricious in their ideas 
concerning the obligatory power of oaths. One solemn mode of swear- 
ing was by kissing the dirk, imprecating upon themselves death by that, 
or a similar weapon, if they broke their vow. But for oaths in the 
usual form, they are said to have had little respect. As for the rever- 
ence clue to the chief, it may be guessed from the following odd example 
of a Highland point of honor: 

' The clan whereto the above-mentioned tribe belongs, is the only 
one I have heard of which is without a chief ; that is, being divided into 
families, under several chieftains, without any particular patriarch of 
the whole name. And this is a great reproach, as may appear from an 
affair that fell out at my table, in the Highlands, between one of that 
name and a Cameron. The provocation given by the latter was, "Name 
your chief." The return of it at once was, " You are a fool." They 
went out next morning, but having early notice of it, I sent a small 
party of soldiers after them, which, in all probability, prevented some 
barbarous mischief that might have ensued; for the chiefless High- 
lander, who is himself a petty chieftain, was going to the place appointed 
with a small-sword and pistol, whereas the Cameron (an old man) took 
with him only his broadsword, according to the agreement. 

* When all was over, and I had, at least seemingly, reconciled them, 
I was told the words, of which I seemed to think but slightly, were, to 
one of the clan, the greatest of all provocations' {Letters from, Scotland, 
vol. ii. p. 221)." 

604. Menteith. See on i. 89 above. 

607. Rednock. The ruins of Redneck Castle are about two miles to 
the north of Loch Menteith, on the road to Callander. Cardross Castle 
(in which Robert Bruce died) was on the banks of the Clyde, a few 
miles below Dumbarton. Duchray Castle is a mile south of Lochard. 
Loch Con, or Chon, is a lakelet, about three miles northwest from 
Lochard (into which it drains) and two miles south of Loch Katrine. 

611. Wot ye. Know ye. See on i. 596 above. 

622. Coir-nan-Uriskin. Scott has the following note here : "This is 
a very steep and most romantic hollow in the mountain of Benvenue, 
overhanging the southeastern extremity of Loch Katrine. It is sur- 
rounded with stupendous rocks, and overshadowed with birch-trees, 
mingled with oaks, the spontaneous production of the mountain, even 
where its cliffs appear denuded of soil. A dale in so wild a situation, 
and amid a people whose genius bordered on the romantic, did not 

15 



226 



NOTES. 




LOCH CON. 



remain without appropriate deities. The name literally implies the 
Corri, or Den, of the Wild or Shaggy Men. Perhaps this, as conjec- 
tured by Mr. Alexander Campbell [Journey from Edinburgh, 1S02, p. 
109), mav have originally only implied its being the haunt of a ferocious 
banditti. But tradition has ascribed to the Urisk, who gives name to 
the cavern, a figure between a goat and a man ; in short, however much 
he classical reader may be startled, precisely that of the Grecian Satyr. 
The Urisk seems not to have inherited, with the form, the petulance of 
the silvan deity of the classics ; his occupation, on the contrary, re- 
sembled those of Milton's Lubbar Fiend, or of the Scottish Brownie, 
though he differed from both in name and appearance. ' The Urisks,'' 
says Dr. Graham, 'were a sort of lubberly supernaturals, who, like the 
Brownies, could be gained over by kind attention to perform the drudg- 
ery of the farm, and it was believed that many families in the Highlands 
had one of the order attached to it. They were supposed to be dis- 
persed over the Highlands, each in his own wild recess, but the solemn 
stated meetings of the order were regularly held in this Cave of Ben- 
venue. This current superstition, no doubt, alludes to some circum- 
stance in the ancient history of this country ' [Scenery on the Southern 
Confines of Perthshire, p. 19, 1806). It must be owned that the Coir, or 
Den, does not, in its present state, meet our ideas of a subterraneous 
grotto or cave, being only a small and narrow cavity, among huge 
fragments of rocks rudely piled together. But such a scene is liable to 
convulsions of nature which a Lowlander cannot estimate, and which 
may have choked up what was originally a cavern. At least the name 
and tradition warrant the author of a fictitious tale to assert its having 
been such at the remote period in which this scene is laid." 

639. With stich a glimpse, etc. See on 28 above. 

641. Still. Stillness; the adjective used substantively, for the sake 
of the rhyme. 

656. Satyrs. ''The Urisk, or Highland satyr" (Scott). 

664. Bcal-nam-bo. See on 255 above ; and for the measure of the 
first half of the line, on i. 73 above. 



CANTO III. 227 

^']. ^Cross. Scott (ist ed.) prints "cross," as in 750 below. 

672. A single page, etc. Scott says : "A Highland chief, being as ab- 
solute in his patriarchal authority as any prince, had a corresponding 
number of officers attached to his person. He had his body-guards, 
called Luichttach, picked from his clan for strength, activity, and entire 
devotion to his person. These, according to their deserts, were sure to 
share abundantly in the rude profusion of his hospitality. It is recorded, 
for example, by tradition, that Allan MacLean, chief of that clan, hap- 
pened upon a time to hear one of these favorite retainers observe to 
his comrade, that their chief grew old. ' Whence do you infer that .'' ' 
replied the other. ' When was it,' rejoined the first, ' that a soldier of 
Allan's was obliged, as I am now, not only to eat the flesh from the 
bone, but even to tear off the inner skin, or filament ? ' The hint was 
quite sufficient, and MacLean next morning, to relieve his followers 
from such dire necessity, undertook an inroad on the mainland, the 
ravage of which altogether effaced the memory of his former expeditions 
for the like purpose. 

" Our officer of Engineers, so often quoted, has given us a distinct list 
of the domestic officers who, independent of Lidchttach, or gardes de 
corps, belonged to the establishment of a Highland chief. These are, 
I. The Henchman. 2. The Bard. See preceding notes. 3. Bladier, 
or spokesman. 4. Gillie-more, or sword-bearer, alluded to in the text. 
5. Gillie-casfiiie , who carried the chief, if on foot, over the fords. 6. 
Gillie-cofnstraine,vi\iO leads the chief's horse. 7. Gillie- Trushanarinsh, 
the baggage-man. 8. The piper. 9. The piper's gillie, or attendant, 
who carries the bagpipe {Letters from Scotland, vol. ii. p. 1 58) . Although 
this appeared, naturally enough, very ridiculous to an English officer, 
who considered the master of such a retinue as no more than an Eng- 
lish gentleman of ^500 a-year, yet in the circumstances of the chief, 
whose strength and importance consisted in the number and attachment 
of his followers, it was of the last consequence, in point of policy, to 
have in his gift subordinate offices, which called immediately round his 
person those who were most devoted to him, and, being of value in 
their estimation, were also the means of rewarding them." 

693. To drown, etc. The MS. reads : 

" To drown his grief in war's wild roar. 
Nor think of love and Ellen more." 

713. Ave Maria! etc. ''The metrical peculiarity of this song is that 
the rhymes of the even lines of the first quatrain (or set of four lines) 
are taken up as those of the odd lines in the second, and that they are 
the same in all three stanzas " (Taylor). 

722. We now must share. The MS. has "my sire must share:" and 
in 725 " The murky grotto's noxious air." 

733. Bow us. See on i. 142, and cf. 749 below. 

754. Lan7-ick height. Overlooking Lanrick Mead. See on 286 above. 

755. Where mustered, etc. The MS. reads : 

"Where broad extending far below, 
Mustered Clan-Alpine's martial show.'* 

On the first of these lines, cf. i. 88 above. 

773. Yell. See on 357 above. 

774. Boc hostlers plain. See on i. 106 above. 



2i2S NOTES, 



CANTO FOURTH. 

2. And hope, etc. The MS. has "And rapture dearest when ob- 
scured by fears." 

5. Wilding. Wild ; a rare word, used only in poetry. Cf. Tennyson, 
Geraint and Enid : " And like a crag was gay with wilding flowers." 
Spenser has the noun (=wild apples) in F. Q. iii. 7. 17 : " Oft from the 
forrest wildings he did bring," etc. fV/iom is used on account of the 
personification. 

9. What time. Cf. ii. 307 and iii. 15 above. 

19. Braes of Doune. The undulating region between Callander and 
Doune, on the north side of the Teith. The Donne of 37 below is the 
old Castle of that name, the ruins of which still form a majestic pile on 
the steep banks of the Teith. It figures in Waverley as the place where 
the hero was confined by the Highlanders. 

36. Boime. Prepared, ready; a Scottish word. Cf. 157 and vi. 396 
below. 

42. Bide. Endure ; not to be printed ''bide, as if a contraction of 
abide. Cf . Shakespeare, Lear, iii. 4. 29 : " That bide the pelting of this 
pitiless storm," etc. 

Bout. Turn (of fortune). 

47. Repair. That is, to repair. 

55. ^Tis well advised. Well thought of, well planned. Cf. advised = 
careful, well considered; as in M. of V.\. \. 142 : "with more advised 
watch," etc. 

The MS. reads : 

" 'Tis well advised — a prudent plan, 
Worthy the father of his clan." 

59. Evening-tide. See on iii. 478 above. 

63. The Taghairm. Scott says here : " The Highlanders, like all 
rude people, had various superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity. 
One of the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text. A 
person was wrapped up in the skin of a newly-slain bullock, and de- 
posited beside a waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some 
other strange, wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around 
him suggested nothing but objects of horror. In this situation, he re- 
volved in his mind the question proposed; and whatever was impressed 
upon him by his exalted imagination, passed for the inspiration of the 
disembodied spirits, who haunt these desolate recesses. In some of the 
Hebrides they attributed the same oracular power to a large black 
stone by the sea-shore, which they approached with certain solemnities, 
and considered the first fancy which came into their own minds, after 
they did so, to be the undoubted dictate of the tutelar deity of the stone, 
and, as such, to be, if possible, punctually complied with." 

68. Gallangad. We do not find this name elsewhere, but it probably 
belongs to some part of the district referred to in Scott's note inserted 
here : " I know not if it be worth observing that this passage is taken 
almost literally from the mouth of an old Highland kern, or Ketteran, 
as they were called. He used to narrate the merry doings of the good 



CANTO IV. 229 

old time when he was follower of Rob Roy MacGregor. This leader, 
on one occasion, thought proper to make a descent upon the lower part 
of the Loch Lomond district, and summoned all the heritors and farm- 
ers to meet at the Kirk of Drymen, to pay him black-mail ; /. e., tribute 
for forbearance and protection. As this invitation was supported by a 
band of thirty or forty stout fellows, only one gentleman, an ancestor, 
if I mistake not, of the present Mr. Grahame of Gartmore, ventured to 
decline compliance. Rob Roy instantly swept his land of all he could 
drive away, and among the spoil was a bull of the old Scottish wild 
breed, whose ferocity occasioned great plague to the Ketterans. ' But 
ere we had reached the Row of Dennan,' said the old man, ' a child 
might have scratched his ears.' The circumstance is a minute one, but 
it paints the time when the poor beeve was compelled 

* To hoof it o'er as many weary miles, 
With goading pikemen hollowing at his heels, 
As e'er the bravest antler of the woods' {Ethwaldy^ 

73. Kerns. The Gaelic and Irish light-armed soldiers, the heavy- 
armed being known as gallowglasses. The names are often associated ; 
as in Macbeth, i. 2. 13: "kerns and gallowglasses; " 2 Hen. VI. iv. 9. 
26 : " gallowglasses and stout kerns ; " Drayton, Heroical Epist. : " the 
Kerne and Irish Galliglasse," etc. 

74. BeaPmaka. " The pass of the plain," on the east of Loch Lo- 
mond, opposite Inch-Cailliach. In the olden time it was one of the 
established roads for making raids into the Lowlands. 

jj. Dennan'' s Row. The modern Rowar dennan, on Loch Lomond at 
the foot of Ben Lomond, and a favorite starting-point for the ascent 
of that mountain. 

82. Boss. Knob ; in keeping with Targe. 

83. Verge. Pronounced varge, as the rhyme shows. In v. 219 below 
it has its ordinary sound; but cf. v. 812. 

84. The Heroes Targe. " There is a rock so named in the Forest of 
Glenfinlas, by which a tumultuary cataract takes its course. This wild 
place is said in former times to have afforded refuge to an outlaw, wha 
was supplied with provisions by a woman, who lowered them down 
from the brink of the precipice above. His water he procured for 
himself, by letting down a flagon tied to a string into the black pool 
beneath the fall" (Scott). 

98. Broke. Quartered. Cf. the quotation from Jonson below. Scott 
says here : " Everything belonging to the chase was matter of solemnity 
among our ancestors; but nothing was more so than the mode of cut- 
ting up, or, as it was technically called, breaking, the slaughtered stag. 
The forester had his allotted portion ; the hounds had a certain allow- 
ance ; and, to make the division as general as possible, the very birds 
had their share also. * There is a little gristle,' says Turbervile, 'which 
is upon the spoone of the brisket, which we call the raven's bone ; and 
I have seen in some places a raven so wont and accustomed to it, that 
she would never fail to croak and cry for it all the time you were in 
breaking up of the deer, and would not depart till she had it.' In the 
very ancient metrical romance of Sir Tristrem, that peerless knightj^ 



230 NOTES. 

who is said to have been the very deviser of all rules of chase, did not 
omit the ceremony : 

* The rauen he yaue his yiftes 
Sat on the fourched tre.' ^ 

" The raven might also challenge his rights by the Book of St. Albajis ; 
for thus says Dame Juliana Berners : 

' slitteth anon 
The bely to the side, from the corbyn bone ; 
That is corbyns fee, at the death he will be.' 

Jonson, in The Sad Shepherd, gives a more poetical account of the same 
ceremony : 

'■Marian. He that undoes him, 

Doth cleave the brisket bone, upon the spoon 
Of which a little gristle grows — you call it — 
Robin Hood. The raven's bone. 
Marian. Now o'er head sat a raven 

On a sere bough, a grown, great bird, and hoarse, 
Who, all the while the deer was breaking up, 
So croaked and cried for 't, as all the huntsmen, 
Especially old Scathlock, thought it ominous.' " 

115. Rouse. Rise, stand erect. Cf. Macbeth, v. 5. 12; 

*' The time has been, my senses would have cool'd 
To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair 
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir 
As life were in 't." 

119. Mine. Many eds. have "my." 

128. Fateful. The reading of ist ed. and that of 182 1 ; "fatal" in 
some recent eds. 

132. Which spills, etc. The MS. has " Which foremost spills a foe- 
man's life." 

" Though this be in the text described as a response of the Tag- 
hairm, or Oracle of the Hide, it was of itself an augury frequently 
attended to. The fate of the battle was often anticipated, in the ima- 
gination of the combatants, by observing which party first shed blood. 
It is said that the Highlanders under Montrose were so deeply imbued 
with this notion, that on the morning of the battle of Tippermoor, they 
murdered a defenceless herdsman, whom they found in the fields, 
merely to secure an advantage of so much consequence to their party " 
(Scott). 

140. A spy. That is, Fitz-James. For has sought, the ist ed. has 
" hath sought." 

144. Red Murdoch, etc. The MS. has "The clansman vainly deemed 
his guide," etc. 

147. Those shall bring him dotvu. For the ellipsis of who, see on 
i. 528 above. The MS. has "stab him down." 

1 53. Pale. In the heraldic sense of " a broad perpendicular stripe in 
an escutcheon." See Wb. 

J 55. I love to hear, etc. Cf. v. 238 below. 

* To the raven that sat on the forked tree he gave his gifts. 



CANTO IV. 231 

156. When move they on ? etc. The MS. reads : 

«' When move they on ? ' {'x5-da^y"} at noon 
'Tis said will see them march from Doune.' 
' To-morrow then | "ggg^^ | meeting stern.' " 

160. Earn. That is, the district about Loch Earn and the river of 
the same name flowing from the lake. 

164. Shaggy glen. As already stated, Trosachs means brist^mg. 
174. Stance. Station; a Scottish word. 
177. Trusty targe. The MS. has "Highland targe." 
197. Shifting like flashes, &tc. That is, like the Northern Lights. C£ 
the Lay, ii. 86 : 

"And red and bright the streamers light 
Were dancing in the glowing north. 

He knew by the streamers that shot so bright 
That spirits were ridingthe northern light." 

The MS. reads : 

" Thick as the flashes darted forth 
By morrice-dancers of the north ; 

And saw at morn their { Stt'if fl^etf ' 

Close moored by the lone islet's side. 
Since this rude race dare not abide 
Upon their native mountain side, 
'T is fit that Douglas should provide 
For his dear child some safe abode, 
And soon he comes to point the road." 

207. No, Allan, etc. The MS. reads : 

" No, Allan, no ! His words so kind 
Were but pretexts my fears to blind. 
When in such solemn tone and grave 
Douglas a parting blessing gave." 

212. Fixed and high. Often misprinted " fixed on high." 

215. Stroke. The MS. has "shock," and in the next line "adamatn- 
tine " for invulnerable. 

223. Trowed. Trusted, believed. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 2. 34 : " So 
much is more then [than] just to trow." See also Lnke, xvii. 9. 

231. Cambus-kenneth''s fane. Cambus-kenneth Abbey, about a mile 
from Stirling, on the other side of the Forth. The massive tower is 
now the only part remaining entire. 

235. Friends\ Many recent eds. misprint "friend's." 

250. Sooth. True. See on i. 476 above. 

261. Merry it is, etc. Scott says: "This little fairy tale is founded 
upon a very curious Danish ballad which occurs in the Kcempe Viser, 
a collection of heroic songs first published in 1591, and reprinted in 
1695, inscribed by Anders Sofrensen, the collector and editor, to Sophia, 
Queen of Denmark." 

The measure is the common ballad-metre, the basis of which is a 
line of eight syllables followed by one of six, the even syllables ac- 
cented, with the alternate lines rhyming, so as to form a four-line 



232 NOTES. 

stanza. It is varied by extra unaccented syllables, and by rhymes 
within the longer lines (both of which modifications we have in 263 and 
271), and by "double rhymes " (like singing and riiiging). 

262. Mavis and merle. Thrush and blackbird. 

267. Wold. Open country, as opposed to ivood. Cf. Tennyson, In 
Me77ioriam, ii : " Calm and deep peace on this high wold," etc. See 
also 724 below. 

274, Glaive. Broadsword. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 38: "laying 
both his hands upon his glave," etc. See also v. 253 below. 

277, Fall. A rich fabric used for making palls, or mantles. Cf. 
F\ Q. i. 7. 16. " He gave her gold and purple pall to weare." 

278. Wont. Were accustomed. See on i. 408 above. 

282. 'Twas but, etc. The MS. reads : 

" 'Twas but a midnight chance; 
For blindfold was the battle plied, 
And fortune held the lance." 

283. Darkling. In the dark; a poetical word. Cf. Milton, P. L. 



39 



" as the wakeful bird 
Sings darkling ; " 



Shakespeare, Lear, i. 4. 237 : " So out went the candle, and we were 
left darkling," etc. See also 711 below. 

285. Vair. The fur of the squirrel. See Wb. 

286. Sheen. See on i. 208 above. 

291. Richard. Here accented on the final syllable. Such license 
is not unusual in ballad poetry. 

298. Waned. Dwelt. See on i. 408 above. Scott has the following 
note here : 

"In a long dissertation upon the Fairy Superstitions, published in 
the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the most valuable part of which 
was supplied by my learned and indefatigable friend, Dr. John Leyden, 
most of the circumstances are collected which can throw light upon the 
popular belief which even yet prevails respecting them in Scotland. 
Dr. Grahame, author of an entertaining work upon the Scenery of the 
Perthshire Highlands, already frequently quoted, has recorded with 
great accuracy the peculiar tenets held by the Highlanders on this 
topic, in the vicinity of Loch Katrine. The learned author is inclined 
to deduce the whole mythology from the Druidical system, — an opinion 
to which there are many objections. 

' The Daoine Shi\ or Men of Peace, of the Highlanders, though not 
absolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish, repining race of 
beings, who, possessing themselves but a scanty portion of happiness, 
are supposed to envy mankind their more complete and substantial 
enjoyments. They are supposed to enjoy, in their subterraneous 
recesses, a sort of shadowy happiness, — a tinsel grandeur ; which, 
however, they would willingly exchange for the more solid joys of 
mortality. 

' They are believed to inhabit certain round grassy eminences, where 
they celebrate their nocturnal festivities by the light of the moon. 
About a mile beyond the source of the Forth, above Loch Con, there 



CANTO IV. 233 

is a place called Coirshi^an, or the Cove of the Men of Peace, which is 
still supposed to be a favorite place of their residence. In the neigh- 
borhood are to be seen many round conical eminences, particularly 
one near the head of the lake, by the skirts of which many are still 
afraid to pass after sunset. It is believed that if, on Hallow-eve, any 
person, alone, goes round one of these hills nine times, towards the 
left hand [sinistrorsum) a door shall open, by which he will be admitted 
into their subterraneous abodes. Many, it is said, of mortal race 
have been entertained in their secret recesses- There they have been 
received into the most splendid apartments, and regaled with the most 
sumptuous banquets and delicious wines. Their females surpass the 
daughters of men in beauty. The seemingly happy inhabitants pass 
their time in festivity, and in dancing to notes of the softest music. 
But unhappy is the mortal who joins in their joys or ventures to par- 
take of their dainties. By this indulgence he forfeits for ever the 
society of men, and is bound down irrevocably to the condi^on of 
Shriek, or Man of Peace.' " * 

301. Why sounds, etc. " It has been already observed that fairies, if 
not positively malevolent, are capricious, and easily offended. They 
are, like other proprietors of forests, peculiarly jealous of their rights 
of vert and venison. . . . This jealousy was also an attribute of the 
northern Duei'gar, or dwarfs ; to many of whose distinctions the fairies 
seem to have succeeded, if, indeed, they are not the same class of 
beings. In the huge metrical record of German chivalry entitled the 
Helden-Biich, Sir Hildebrand, and the other heroes of whom it treats, 
are engaged in one of their most desperate adventures, from a rash 
violation of the rose-garden of an Elfin or Dwarf King. 

" There are yet traces of a belief in this worst and most malicious order 
of fairies among the Border wilds. Dr. Leyden has introduced such 
a dwarf into his ballad entitled The Coiit of Keeldar, and has not forgot 
his characteristic detestation of the chase. 

' The third blast that young Keeldar blew, 

Still stood the limber fern. 
And a wee man, of swarthy hue. 

Upstarted by a cairn. 

* His russet weeds were brown as heath 
That clothes the upland fell. 

And the hair of his head was frizzly red 
As the purple heather-bell. 

* An urchin, clad in prickles red. 
Clung cow' ring to his arm ; 

The hounds they howl'd, and backward fled, 
As struck by fairy charm. 

' " Why rises high the staghound's cry, 

Where staghound ne'er should be ? 
Why wakes that horn the silent morn, 
Without the leave of me ? " — 

' " Brown Dwarf, that o'er the muirland strays, 

Thy name to Keeldar tell ! " — 
'^' The Brown Man of the Muirs, who stays 
Beneath the heather bell. 



234 NOTES. 

* *' 'T is sweet beneath the heather-bell 

To live in autumn brown ; 
And sweet to hear the lav'rock's swell, 
<. Far, far from tower and town. 

' " But woe betide the shrilling'hom, 

The chase's surly cheer i 
And ever that hunter is forlorn 

Whom first at morn I hear." ' 

"The poetical picture here given of the Duergar corresponds exactly 
with the following Northumberland legend, with which I was lately 
favored by my lea.rned and kind friend, Mr. Surtees of Mainsforth, who 
has bestowed indefatigable labor upon the antiquities of the English 
Border counties. The subject is in itself so curious, that the length of 
the note will, I hope, be pardoned : 

' I have only one record to offer of the appearance of our North- 
umbrian Duergar. My narratrix is Elizabeth Cockburn, an old wife of 
Offer^on, in this county, whose credit, in a case of this kind, will not, 
I hope, be much impeached when I add that she is by her dull neigh- 
bors supposed to be occasionally insane, but by- herself to be at those 
times endowed with a faculty of seeing visions and spectral appear- 
ances which shun the common ken. 

' In the year before the great rebellion, tw^o y^oung men from New- 
castle were sporting on the high moors above Eldson, and after pursuing 
their game several hours, sat down to dine in a green glen near one of 
the mountain streams. After their repast, the younger lad ran to the 
brook for water, and after stooping to drink, was surprised, on lifting 
his head again, by the appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a 
crag covered with brackens, across the burn. This extraordinary^ per- 
sonage did not appear to be above half the stature of a common man, 
but was uncommonly stout and broad-built, having the appearance of 
vast strength. His dress Avas entirely brown, the color of the brackens, 
and his head covered with frizzled red hair. His countenance w^as ex- 
pressive of the most savage ferocity, and his eyes glared like a bull. 
It seems he addressed the young man first, threatening him W'ith his 
vengeance for having trespassed on his demesnes, and asking him if he 
knew in whose presence he stood ? The youth replied that he now 
supposed him to be the lord of the moors ; that he offended through 
ignorance ; and offered to bring him the game he had killed. The 
dwarf was a little mollified by this submission, but remarked that 
nothing could be more offensive to him than such an offer, as he con- 
sidered the wild animals as his subjects, and never failed to avenge 
their destruction. He condescended further to inform him that he 
was, like himself, mortal, though of years far exceeding the lot of 
common humanity, and (w^hat I should not have had an idea of) that 
he hoped for salvation. He never, he added, fed on anything that had 
life, but lived in the summer on whortleberries, and in winter on nuts 
and apples, of which he had great store in the woods. Finally, he in- 
vited his new acquaintance to accompany him home and partake his 
hospitality, an offer which the youth was on the point of accepting, 
and was just going to spring across the brook (which if he had don^ 



CANTO IV. 235 

says Elizabeth, the dwarf would certainly have torn him in pieces), 
when his foot was arrested by the voice of his companion, who thought 
he had tarried long, and on looking round again, " the wee brown man 
was fled." The story adds that he was imprudent enough to slight the 
admonition, and to sport over the moors on his way homewards, but 
soon after his return he fell into a lingering disorder, and died within 
the year '" (Scott). 

302. Our moonlight circle's. The MS. has "Our fairy ringlet's." 
306. The fairies' fatal green. "As i\\Q Daoine Shi\ ox M.&x\. oi Peace, 
wore green habits, they were supposed to take offence when any mor- 
tals ventured to assume their favorite color. Indeed, from some reason, 
which has been, perhaps originally a general superstition, gr^en is 
held in Scotland to be unlucky to particular tribes and counties. The 
Caithness men, who hold this belief, allege as a reason that their bands 
wore that color when they were cut off at the battle of Flodden; and 
for the same reason they avoid crossing the Ord on a Monday, being 
the day of the week on which their ill-omened array set forth. Green 
is also disliked by those of the name of Ogilvy ; but more especially 
it is held fatal to the whole clan of Grahame. It is remembered of an 
aged gentleman of that name that when his horse fell in a fox-chase, 
he accounted for it at once by observing that the whipcord attached 
to his lash was of this unlucky color " (Scott). 

308. Wert christetied man. Scott says : " The Elves were supposed 
greatly to envy the privileges acquired by Christian initiation, and they 
gave to those mortals who had fallen into their power a certain prece- 
dence, founded upon this advantageous distinction. Tamlane, in the 
old ballad, describes his own rank in the fairy procession : 

' For I ride on a milk-white steed, 

And aye nearest the town ; 
Because I was a christen' d knight, 
They give me that renown.' " 

312. The curse of the sleepless eye. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 19: 

" Sleep shall neither night nor day 
Hang upon his pent-house lid," etc. 

313. Part. Depart. See on ii. 94 above. 
322. Grisly. See on i. 704 above. 

330. Kindly. Kindred, natural. See Wb., and cf. Shakespeare, 
Much Ado, iv. I. 75 : 

" that fatherly and kindly power 
That you have in her," etc. 

345. All is glistening show. "No fact respecting Fairy-land seems 
to be better ascertained than the fantastic and illusory nature of their 
apparent pleasure and splendor. It has been already noticed in the 
former quotations from Dr. Grahame's entertaining volume, and may 
be confirmed by the following Highland tradition: — 'A woman, whose 
new-born child had been conveyed by them into their secret abodes, 
was also carried thither herself, to remain, however, only until she 
should suckle her infant. She one day, during this period, observed 
the Shi^ichs busily employed in mixing various ingredients in a boiling 



236 



NOTES. 



caldron, and as soon as the composition was prepared, she remarked 
that they all carefully anointed their eyes with it, laying the remainder 
aside for future use. In a moment when they were all absent, she also 
attempted to anoint her eyes with the precious drug, but had time to 
apply it to one eye only, when the Daoine Shi' returned. But with 
that eye she was henceforth enabled to see everything as it really passed 
in their secret abodes ; she saw every object, not as she hitherto had 
done, in deceptive splendor and elegance, but in its genuine colors and 
form. The gaudy ornaments of the apartment were reduced to the 
walls of a gloomy cavern. Soon after, having discharged her office, 
she was dismissed to her own home. Still, however, she retained the 
faculty of seeing, with her medicated eye, everything that was done, 
anywhere in her presence, by the deceptive art of the order. One day, 
amidst a throng of people, she chanced to observe the ShVich, or man 
of peace, in whose possession she had left her child, though to every 
other eye invisible. Prompted by maternal affection, she inadvertently 
accosted him, and began to inquire after the welfare of her child. The 
man of peace, astonished at being thus recognized by one of mortal 
race, demanded how she had been enabled to discover him. Awed by 
the terrible frown of his countenance, she acknowledged what she had 
done. He spat in her eye, and extinguished it for ever.' 

** It is very remarkable that this story, translated by Dr. Grahame 
from popular Gaelic tradition, is to be found in the Otia Imperialia of 
Gervase of Tilbury.^ A work of great interest might be compiled upon 
the original of popular fiction, and the transmission of similar tales 
from age to age, and from country to country. The mythology of one 
period would then appear to pass into the romance of the next century, 
and that into the nursery tale of the subsequent ages. Such an inves- 
tigation, while it went greatly to diminish our ideas of the richness of 
human invention, would also show that these fictions, however wild 
and childish, possess such charms for the populace as enable them to 
penetrate into countries unconnected by manners and language, and 
having no apparent intercourse to afford the means of transmission. 
It would carry me far beyond my bounds to produce instances of this 
community of fable among nations who never borrowed from each 
other any thing intrinsically worth learning. Indeed the wide diffusion 
of popular fictions may be compared to the facility with which straws 
and feathers are dispersed abroad by the wind, while valuable metals 
cannot be transported without trouble and labor. There lives, I believe, 
only one gentleman whose unlimited acquaintance with this subject 
might enable him to do it justice, — I mean my friend Mr. Francis Douce, 
of the British Museum, whose usual kindness will, I hope, pardon my 
mentioning his name while on a subject so closely connected with his 
extensive and curious researches" (Scott). 

355. Snatched aivay^ etc. "The subjects of Fairy-land were recruited 
from the regions of humanity by a sort of crimping system, which ex- 
tended to adults as well as to infants. Many of those who were in this 

' " This story is still current in the moors of Staffordshire, and adapted by the peas- 
antry to their own meridian. I have repeatedly heard it told, exactly as here, by rustics 
who could not read. My last authority was a tiniler near Cheadle " (R. Jamicson). 



CANTO IV. 237 

world supposed to have discharged the debt of nature, had only become 
denizens of the * Londe of Faery ' " (Scott). 

357. Btit wist I,e\.c. But if I knew, etc. Wist is the past tense of 
wit (Matzner). See on i. 596 above. 

371. Dunfermline. A town in Fifeshire, 17 miles northwest of Edin- 
burgh. It was long the residence of the Scottish kings, and the old 
abbey, which succeeded lona as the place of royal sepulture, has been 
called **the Westminster of Scotland." Robert Bruce was the last 
sovereign buried here. 

374. Steepy. Cf. iii. 304 above. 

376. Lincoln green. See on i. 464 above. 

386. Morning-tide. Cf. iii. 478 above. 

387. Boiirne. Bound, limit. Cf. the quotation from Milton in note 
on iii. 344 above. 

392. Scathe. Harm, mischief. Spenser uses the word often ; as in 
F. Q. i. 12. 34: "To worke new woe and improvided scath," etc. Cf. 
Shakespeare, K.John, ii. i. 75: "To do offence and scathe in Christ- 
endom ; " Rich. III. i. 3. 317 : " To pray for them that have done scathe 
to us," etc. 

393. Kern. See on ']'}f above. 

395. Conjure. In prose we should have to write "conjure him.^* 
403. Yet life I hold., etc. Qi.Julitis Ccesar, i. 2. 84: 

" If it be aught toward the general good, 
Set honor in one eye and death i' the other, 
And I will look on both indifferently; 
For let the gods so speed me as I love 
The name of honor more than I fear death." 

411. Near Bochastle. The MS. has " By Cambusmore." See on i. 
103 and 106 above. 
413. Bower. Lodging, dwelling. See oni. 217 above. 
415. Art. Affectation. 

417. Before. That is, at his visit to the Isle. Cf. ii. 96 fol. above. 

418. Was idly soothed, etc. The MS. has " Was idly fond thy praise 
to hear." 

421. Atone. Atone for. Shakespeare uses the verb transitively 
several times, but in the sense of reconcile ; as in Rich. II. i. i. 202: 
"Since we cannot atone you," etc. Cf. v. 735 below. 

433. If yet he is. If he is still living. 

437. Train. Lure; dj&m Macbeth, 'w. t^. 118: 

" Devilish Macbeth 
By many of these trains hath sought to win me 
Into his power." 

Cf. the use of the verb (= allure, entice) ; as in C of E. iii. 2. 45 : " O, 
train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note;" Scott's Lay, iii. 146: 
" He thought to train him to the wood," etc. James was much given 
to gallatitry, and many of his travels in disguise were on adventures 
of this kind. See on i. 409 above and vi. 740 below. 

446. As death, etc. As if death, etc. See on ii. 56 above, and cf. 459 
below. 

464. This ring. The MS. has " This ring of gold the monarch gave." 



2SS NOTEi^. 

471. Lordship. Landed estates. 

473. Reck of. Care for ; poetical. 

474. Elle7t, thy hand. The MS. has " Permit this hand; " and below : 

" ' Seek thou the King, and on thy knee 
Put forth thy suit, whate'er it be, 
As ransom of his pledge to me ; 
My name and diis shall make thy way,' 
He put the little signet on," etc. 

492. He stammered y etc. The MS. reads : 

" He stammered forth confused reply : 
'sfr"Knight,h^'^°"^^d but to scare 
Yon raven from his dainty fare.' " 

500. Fared. Went ; the original sense of the word. Cf. farewell 
(which was at first a friendly wish for "the parting guest"), wayfarer., 
thoroicghfare, etc. 

506. In tattered weeds, etc. The MS. has "Wrapped in a tattered 
mantle gray." Weeds is used in the old sense of garments. Cf. Shake- 
speare, M. N. D. ii. I. 256 : " Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in ; " 
Id. ii. 2. 71 ; " Weeds of Athens he doth wear; " Milton, U Allegro, 120: 
" In weeds of peace," etc. See also v. 465 below. 

523. In better time. That is, in better times or days; not in the musi- 
cal sense. 

524. Chime. Accord, sing ; a poetical use of the word. Cf. vi. 592 
below. 

531. Allan. "The Allan and Devan are two beautiful streams — the 
latter celebrated in the poetry of Burns — which descend from the hills 
of Perthshire into the great carse, or plain, of Stirling" (Lockhart). 

548. ' T is Blanche, etc. The MS. has : 

" 'A Saxon born, a crazy maid — 

Tis Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said." 

552. Bridegroom, Here accented on the second syllable. In 682 
below it has the ordinary accent. 

555. ^Scapes. The word may be so printed here, but not in Elizabe- 
than poetry. We find it in prose of that day; as in Bacon, Adv. of L. 
ii. 14. 9: "such as had scaped shipwreck." See Wb., and cf. state and 
estate, etc. 

559. Pitched a bar. That is, in athletic contests. Cf. v. 648 below. 

562. See the gay pennons, etc. The MS. reads : 

"With thee these pennons will I share, 
Then seek my true love through the air ; 
But I '11 not lend that savage groom, 
To break his fall, one downy plume ! 
Deep, deep, mid yon disjointed stones, 
The wolf shall batten on his bones." 

567. Batten. Fatten ; as in Hamlet, iii. 4. (yj : " batten on this moor." 
Milton uses it transitively in Lycidas, 29 : " Battening our flocks with 
the fresh dews of night." 

575. The Lincoln green. " The Lowland garb " (520). Cf. also 376 
above. 



CANTO IV. 239 

578. For O my sweet William., etc. The MS. reads : 

" Sweet William was a woodsman true, 
He stole poor Blanche's heart away ; 
His coat was of the forest hue, 
And sweet he sung the Lowland Lay." 

590. The toils are pitched. The nets are set. Cf. Shakespeare, 
L. L. Z., iv. 3. 2: "they have pitched a toil," etc. "The meaning is 
obvious. The hunters are Clan-Alpine's men ; the stag of ten is Fitz- 
James ; the wounded doe is herself" (Taylor). 

594. A stag of ten. "Having ten branches on his antlers" (Scott). 
Nares says that antlers is an error here, the vi^ord meaning "the short 
brow horns, not the branched horns ; " but see Wb. Cf. Jonson, Sad 
Shepherd, i. 2 : 

" And a hart often, 
Madam, I trow to be ; " 

and Massinger, Emperor of the East, iv. 2: 

" He '11 make you royal sport ; he is a deer 
Often, at least." 

1595. Sturdily. As Taylor notes, the "triple rhymes" in this song 
are " of a very loose kind." 

609. Blanche's song. Jeffrey says : " No machinery can be conceived 
more clumsy for effecting the deliverance of a distressed hero than the 
introduction of a mad woman, who, without knowing or caring about 
the wanderer, warns him by a song to take care of the ambush that was 
set for him. The maniacs of poetry have indeed had a prescriptive 
right to be musical, since the days of Ophelia downwards ; but it is 
rather a rash extension of this privilege to make them sing good sense, 
and to make sensible people be guided by them." 

To this Taylor well replies: "This criticism seems unjust. The cru- 
elty of Roderick's raids in the Lowlands has already been hinted at, and 
the sight of the Lowland dress might well stir associations in the poor 
girl's mind which would lead her to look to the knight for help and pro- 
tection, and also to warn him of his danger. It is plain, from Mur- 
doch's surprise, that her being out of her captors' sight is looked on as 
dangerous, from which we may infer that she is not entirely crazed. Her 
song is not the only hint that Fitz- James follows. His suspicions had 
already twice been excited, so that the episode seems natural enough. 
As giving a distinct personal ground for the combat in canto v., it serves 
the poet's purpose still further. Without it, we should sympathize 
too much with the robber chief, who thinks that 'plundering Lowland 
field and fold is naught but retribution true ; ' but the sight of this sad 
fruit of his raids wins us back to the cause of law and order." 

614. Forth at fill speed, etc. The MS. reads: 

'* Forth at full speed the Clansman went, 
But in his race his bow he bent, 
Halted — and back an arrow sent." 

617. Thrilled. Quivered. 



240 NOTES. 

627. Thine ambushed kin, ^Xc. The MS. transposes this line and the 
next, and goes on thus : 

" Resistless as the lightning's flame, 
The thrust betwixt his shoulder came." 

Just below it reads : 

"Then o'er him hung, with falcon eye, 
And grimly smiled to see him die." 

642. Daggled. Wet, soaked. Cf. the Lay^ i. 316: "Was daggled by 
the dashing spray." 

649. Helpless. The MS. has "guiltless." 

657. Shred. Cut off ; a sense now obsolete. Cf. Withal's Dictioji- 
ary (ed. 1608) : " The superfluous and wast sprigs of vines, being cut 
and shreaded off, are called sarjnenta.'''' 

659. My brain., etc. The MS. has " But now, my champion, it shall 
wave." 

672. Wreak. Avenge. Cf. Shakespeare, R. and J. iii. 5. 102 : 

"To wreak the love I bore my cousin 
Upon his body that hath slaughter'd him ;" 

Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 13 : "to wreak so foule despight," etc. 
679. God, in my need, etc. The MS. reads : 

" God, in my need, to me be true, 
As I wreak this on Roderick Dhu." 

686. Favor. The token of the next line ; referring to the knightly 
custom of wearing such a gift of lady-love or mistress. Cf. Rich. II. 
V. 3. 18: 

*' And from the common'st creature pluck a glove, 
And wear it as a favor," etc. 

See also the Lay, iv. 334 : 

" With favor in his crest, or glove, 
Memorial of his ladye-love." 

691. At bay. See on i. 133 above; and for the dangerous foe, cf. the 
note on i. 137. 

698. Couched him. Lay down. See on i. 142 above. 

700. Rash adventures. See on 437 above. 

701. Must prove. The ist ed. has "will prove." 
705. Bands at Doune. Cf. 150 above. 

711. Darkling. See on 283 above. 

722. Not the summer solstice. Not even the heat of the summer. 

724. Wold. See on 267 above. 

731. Beside its embers, etc. The MS. reads: 

" By the decaying flame was laid 
A warrior in his Highland plaid." 

For the rhyme here, see on i. 363 above. Cf. 764 below. 
741. I da7'e, etc. The MS. reads: 

" I dare ! to him and all the swarm 
He brings to aid his murderous arm." 

746. Slip. A hunter's term for letting loose the greyhounds from the 
slips, or nooses, by which ?:hey were held until sent after the game. 



CANTO IV. 241 

Turberviie [Art of Venerie) says : "We let slip a greyhound, and we 
cast off a hound." Cf. Shakespeare, Cor. i. 6. 39 : 

" Holding Corioli in the name of Rome, 
Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash, 
To let him slip at will ; " 

and for the noun, Hen. V. hi. i. 31 : 

" I see you stand like greyhounds iti the slips, 
Straining upon the start." 

747. Who ever recked^ etc. Scott says : " St. John actually used 
this illustration when engaged in confuting the plea of law proposed 
for the unfortunate Earl of Strafford : ' It was true, we gave laws to 
hares and deer, because they are beasts of chase ; but it was never ac- 
counted either cruelty or foul play to knock foxes or wolves on the head 
as they can be found, because they are beasts of prey. In a word, the 
law and humanity were alike : the one being more fallacious, and the 
other more barbarous, than in any age had been vented in such an 
authority ' [Clareiidoii's History of the Rebellion)." 

762. The hardened flesh of mountaiji deer. "The Scottish Highlanders, 
in former times, had a concise mode of cooking their venison, or rather 
of dispensing with cooking it, which appears greatly to have surprised 
the French, whom chance made acquainted with it. The Vidame of 
Chartres, when a hostage in England, during the reign of Edward VI,, 
was permitted to travel into Scotland, and penetrated as far as to the 
remote Highlands [an fin fond des Sauvages). After a great hunting- 
party, at which a most wonderful quantity of game was destroyed, he 
saw these Scottish savages devour a part of their venison raw, without any 
farther preparation than compressing it between two batons of wood, 
so as to force out the blood, and render it extremely hard. This they 
reckoned a great delicacy ; and when the Vidame partook of it, his com- 
pliance with their taste rendered him extremely popular. This curious 
trait of manners was communicated by Mons. de Montmorency, a great 
friend of the Vidame, to Brant ome, by whom it is recorded in Vies des 
Hommes Illustres, Ixxxix. 14. . . . After all, it may be doubted whether 
la chaire nostree, for so the French called the venison thus summarily 
prepared, was anything more than a mere rude kind of deer ham " 
(Scott). 

772. A mighty augury. That of the Taghairm. 

'JTJ. Not for clan. The ist ed. has " nor for clan." 

785. Stock and stone. Cf. i. 130 above. 

787. Coilantogle's ford. On the Teith just below its exit from Loch 
Vennachar. 

79T. The bittern^ s cry. See on i. 642 above. 

797. And slept, etc. The MS. has " streak " and "lake " for beam and 
stream.. 



242 NOTES. 



CANTO FIFTH. 

1. Fair as the earliest beam, etc. " This introductory stanza is well 
worked in with the story. The morning beam ' lights the fearful path 
on mountain side ' which the two heroes of the poem are to traverse, 
and the comparison which it suggests enlists our sympathy for Roderick^ 
who is to be the victim of defeat " (Taylor). 

5. And lights, etc. The MS. has "And lights the fearful way along 
its side." 

10. SJieen. See on i. 208. 

14. The dappled sky. Cf. Milton, V Allegro, 44 : ** Till the dappled 
dawn doth rise;, " and Shakespeare, Much Ado, v. 3. 25 : 

" and look, the gentle da}', 
Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about 
Dapples the drowsy east with spots of gray." 

15. By. The word is used for the rhyme, but perhaps gives the idea 
of hurry — nmttered offtht prayers. 

16. Steal. The word here is expressive of haste. 

18. Gael. "The Scottish Highlander calls himself Gael, or Gaul, 
and terms the Lowlanders Sassenach, or Saxons" (Scott). 

22. Wildering. Bewildering. See on i. 274 above. For winded, see 
on i. 500. 

32. Btirsting through. That is, as it burst through — "a piece of 
loose writing" (Taylor). 

36. At length, etc. The MS. reads: 

" At length they paced the mountain's side, 
And saw beneath the waters wide." 

44. The ragged mountain's scanty cloak, etc. The MS. reads : 

" The rugged mountain's stunted screen 

Was dwarfish | shrubs ) with cliflfs between." 
( copse j 

46. Shingles. Gravel or pebbles. See on iii. 171 above. 

Taylor says : " Note how the details of- this description are used in 
stanza ix. — shingles, bracken, broom.'' 

51. Dank. Damp, moist. Cf. Shakespeare, R. and J. ii. 3. 6 : "and 
night's dank dew;" Milton, Sonnet to Mr. Lawrence: " Now that the 
fields are dank, and ways are mire," etc. 

64. Sooth to tell. To tell the truth. See on i. 476 above. Sooth to 
say, to say sooth, in sooth, in good sooth, etc., are common in old writers. 
Cf. the Lay, introd. 57 : "the sooth to speak." 

65. To claim its aid. Tlie MS. has "to draw my blade." 
78. Enough. Suffice it that. 

81. A knight's Jree footsteps, etc. The MS. reads; 



" f y ^''^f footsteps j f ^^^ ^^j^g , 

A knight s bold wanderings ) 



86. I urge thee not. The MS. has "I ask it not," and in 95 "hall" 
for Doiuie. 

106. Outlawed. The ist ed. has "exiled." 

108. In the Regent's court, etc. Cf. ii. 221 above. 



CANTO V. 243 

124. Albany. The Regent of 108 above. He was the son ot a younger 
brother of James III., who had been driven into exile by his brother's 
attempts on his life. He took refuge in France, where his son was 
made Lord High Admiral. On the death of James IV. he was called 
home by the Scottish nobles to assume the regency. 

126. Mewed. Shut up. The word seems originally to have meant 
to moult, or shed the feathers ; and as a noun, " the place, whether it 
be abroad or in the house, in which the hawk is put during the time she 
casts, or doth change her feathers " (R. Holmes's Academy of Armory., 
etc.). Spenser has both noun and verb; as in i^. Q. i. 5. 20: '"forth 
comming from her darksome mew ; " and Id. 'n. 3- 34 : " In which vaine 
Braggadocchio was mewd." Milton uses the verb in the grand descrip- 
tion of Liberty in Of Unlicensed Prmting : " Methinks I see her as an 
eagle mewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at 
the full midday beam." In England the noun is still used in the plural 
to denote a stable for horses. Pennant says that the royal stables in 
London were called mews from the fact that the buildings were for- 
merly used for keeping the king's falcons. 

Scott says here : " There is scarcely a more disorderly period of 
Scottish history than that which succeeded the battle of Flodden, and 
occupied the minority of James V. Feuds of ancient standing broke 
out like old wounds, and every quarrel among the independent nobility, 
which occurred daily, and almost hourly, gave rise to fresh bloodshed. 
'There arose,' said Pitscottie, 'great trouble and deadly feuds in many 
parts of Scotland, both in the north and west parts. The Master of 
Forbes, in the north, slew the Laird of Meldrum, under tryst' (that is, 
ai an agreed and secure meeting). 'Likewise, the Laird of Drummelzier 
slew the Lord Fleming at the hawking ; and, likewise, there was 
slaughter among many other great lords.' Nor was the matter much 
mended under the government of the Earl of Angus ; for though he 
caused the King to ride through all Scotland, ' under the pretence and 
color of justice, to punish thief and traitor, none were found greater 
than were in their own company. And none at that time durst strive 
with a Douglas, nor yet a Douglas's man ; for if they v/ould, they got 
the worst. Therefore none durst plainzie of no extortion, theft, reiff, 
nor slaughter done to them by the Douglases or their men; in that 
cause they were not heard so long as the Douglas had the court in 
guiding." 

150. Shingles. Cf. 46 above. 

152. As to your sires. The target and claymore were ttie weapons of 
the Ancient Britons. Taylor quotes Tacitus, Agricola : " ingentibus 
gladiis et brevibus cetris." 

161. Rears. Raises. The word was formerly less restricted in its 
application than at present. Cf. Shakespeare's " rear my hand " ( Temp. 
ii. I. 295, J. C. iii. I. 30), "rear the higher our opinion" {A. and C. 
ii. I. 35), etc.; Milton's "he rear'd me," that is, lifted me up [P. L. 
viii. 316), "rear'd her lank head" [Comzcs, 836), etc. Spenser uses it 
in the sense of take away (like the cant ///?= steal); as in F, Q. iii. 
10. 12 : 

" She to his closet went, where all his wealth 
Lay hid ; thereof she countlesse summes did reare; " 



244 NOTES, 

and Id. iii. lo. 53 : 

" like as a Beare, 
That creeping close among the hives to reare 
An hony-combe," etc. 

Wb. does not give this sense, which we believe is found only in Spenser. 
165. Shall with strong hand, etc. Scott has the following note here : 
" The ancient Highlanders verified in their practice the lines of Gray 

{^Fragment 071 the Alliance of Education and Govej-nment) : 

' An iron race the mountain cliffs maintain, 
Foes to the gentler genius of the plain ; 
For where unwearied sinews must be found, 
With side-long plough to quell the flinty ground, 
To turn the torrent's swift descending flood, 
To tame the savage rushing from the wood, 
What wonder if, to patient valor train'd, 
Tkey guard with spirit what by strength they gain'd ; 
And while their rocky ramparts round they see 
The rough abode of want and liberty 
(As lawless force from confidence will grow), 
Insult the plenty of the vales below?' 

*' So far, indeed, was a Creagh, or foray, from being held disgraceful, 
that a young chief was always expected to show his talents for com- 
mand so soon as he assumed it, by leading his clan on a successful 
enterprise of this nature, either against a neighboring sept, for which 
constant feuds usually furnished an apology, or against the Sassenach, 
Saxons, or Lowlanders, for which no apology was necessary. The 
Gael, great traditional historians, never forgot that the Lowlands had, 
at some remote period, been the property of their Celtic forefathers, 
which furnished an ample vindication of all the ravages that they could 
make on the unfortunate districts which lay within their reach. Sir 
James Grant of Grant is in possession of a letter of apology from 
Cameron of Lochiel, whose men had committed some depredation upon 
a farm called Moines, occupied by one of the Grants. Lochiel assures 
Grant that, however the mistake had happened, his instructions were 
precise, that the party should foray the province of Moray (a Lowland 
district), where, as he coolly observes, ' all men take their prey.' " 

177. Good faith. In good faith, bona fide ; as often in old writers. 

192. Bower. See on i. 217 above. 

195. This rebel Chieftain, etc. The MS. reads : 



and below : 



"This dark Sir Roderick ) ^ his band;" 
This savage Chieftam J ♦ 

" From copse to copse the signal flew. 
Instant, through copse and crags, arose ; '* 



and in 205 " shoots " for sends. 

208. And every tuft, etc. The MS. reads : 

** And each lone tuft of broom gives life 
To plaided warrior armed for strife. 
That whistle manned the lonely glen 
With full five hundred armed men ;" 



and below (214) 



' All silent, too, they stood, and still, _ 
Watching their leader's beck and will. 



CANTO V. 245 

While forward step and weapon show 
They long to rush upon the foe, 
Like the loose crag whose tottering mass 
Hung threatening o'er the hollow pass." 

219. Verge. See on iv. 83 above. 

230. Manned himself. Cf. Addison's "manned his soul," quoted 
by Wb. 

238, The stern joy, etc. Cf. iv. 155 above. 

239. Foeman. The reading of the ist ed. and that of 1821 ; "foe- 
men " in many recent eds. 

246. Their mother Earth, etc. Alluding to the old myths of the 
earth-born Giants and of Cadmus. 

252. Glinted. Flashed; a Scottish word. Jamieson defines ^/m^ " to 
glance, gleam, or pass suddenly like a flash of lightning." 

253. Glaive. See on iv. 274 above. H\xt jack was "a horseman's 
defensive upper garment, quilted and covered with strong leather " 
(Nares). It was sometimes also strengthened with iron rings, plates, 
or bosses. Cf. Lyly, Euphiies : "jackes quilted, and covered over with 
leather, fustian, or canvas, over thick plates of yron that are sowed to 
the same." Scott, in the Eve of St. John, speaks of "his plate-jack." 
For spear the ist ed. has " lance." 

267. One valiant hand. The MS. has " one brave man's hand." 

268. Lay. Were staked. 

270. I only meant, etc. Scott says : "This incident, like some other 
passages in the poem, illustrative of the character of the ancient Gael, 
is not imaginary, but borrowed from fact. The Highlanders, with 
the inconsistency of most nations in the same state, were alternately 
capable of great exertions of generosity and of cruel revenge and per- 
fidy. The following story I can only quote from tradition, but with such 
an assurance from those by whom it was communicated as permits me 
little doubt of its authenticity. Early in the last century, John Gunn, a 
noted Cateran, or Highland robber, infested Inverness-shire, and levied 
black-mail up to the walls of the provincial capital. A garrison was 
then maintained in the castle of that town, and their pay (country 
banks being unknown) was usually transmitted in specie under the 
guard of a small escort. It chanced that the officer who commanded 
this little party was unexpectedly obliged to halt, about thirty miles 
from Inverness, at a miserable inn. About nightfall, a stranger in the 
Highland dress, and of very prepossessing appearance, entered the 
same house. Separate accommodation being impossible, the English- 
man offered the newly-arrived guest a part of his supper, which was 
accepted with reluctance. By the conversation he found his new ac- 
quaintance knew well all the passes of the country, which induced him 
eagerly to request his company on the ensuing morning. He neither 
disguised his business and charge, nor his apprehensions of that cele- 
brated freebooter, John Gunn. The Highlander hesitated a moment, 
and then frankly consented to be his guide. Forth they set in the 
morning ; and in travelling through a solitary and dreary glen, the dis- 
course again turned on John Gunn. ' Would you like to see him .'' ' 
said the guide ; and without waiting an answer to this alarming ques- 



246 NOTES. 

tion, he whistled, and the English officer, with his small party, were 
surrounded by a body of Highlanders, whose numbers put resistance 
out of question, and who were all well armed. ' Stranger,' resumed the 
guide, ' I am that very John Gunn by whom you feared to be inter- 
cepted, and not without cause ; for I came to the inn last night with the 
express purpose of learning your route, that I and my followers might 
ease you of your charge by the road. But I am incapable of betraying 
the trust you reposed in me, and having convinced you that you were 
in my power, I can only dismiss you unplundered and uninjured.' He 
then gave the officer directions for his journey, and disappeared with 
his party as suddenly as they had presented themselves." 

277. Flood. Flow; used for the sake of the rhyme, like drrdj just 
below. ^<7;^^' = wonted. 

286. And still, etc. The MS. reads: 

" And still, from copse and heather bush, 
Fancy saw spear and broadsword rush." 

298. Three mighty lakes. Katrine, Achray, and Vennachar. Scott 
says : " The torrent which discharges itself from Loch Vennachar, the 
lowest and eastmost of the three lakes which form the scenery adjoining 
to the Trosachs, sweeps through a flat and extensive moor, called Bo- 
chastle. Upon a small eminence called the Dun of Bochastle, and 
indeed on the plain itself, are some intrenchments which have been 
thought Roman. There is adjacent to Callander a sweet villa, the 
residence of Captain Fairfoul, entitled the Roman Camp." 

301. Mouldering. The MS. has "martial." 

309. This ?7iurderous Chief, etc. Cf. 106 above. 

315. Allvantageless, etc. Scott says : " The duellists of former times 
did not always stand upon those punctilios respecting equality of arms, 
which are now judged essential to fair combat. It is true that in for- 
mal combats in the lists the parties were, by the judges of the field, put 
as nearly as possible in the same circumstances. But in private duel it 
was often otherwise. In that desperate combat which was fought be- 
tween Quelus, a minion of Henry III. of France, and Antraguet, with 
two seconds on each side, from which only two persons escaped alive, 
Quelus complained that his antagonist had over him the advantage of 
a poniard which he used in parrying, while his left hand, which he was 
forced to employ for the same purpose, was cruelly mangled. When 
he charged Antraguet with this odds, ' Thou hast done wrong,' answered 
he, ' to foiget thy dagger at home. We are here to fight, and not to 
settle punctilios of arms.' In a similar duel, however, a young brother 
of the house of Aubayne, in Angoulesme, behaved more generously on 
the like occasion, and at once threw away his dagger when his enemy 
challenged it as an undue advantage. But at this time hardly anything 
can be conceived more horridly brutal and savage than the mode in 
which private quarrels were conducted in France. Those who were 
most jealous of the point of honor, and acquired the title of Ruffines, 
did not scruple to take every advantage of strength, numbers, surprise, 
.and arms, to accomplish their revenge.'"" 

329, By prophet bred, etc. See iii. 91 fol. above; and for the expres 
sion cf. iv. 124. 



CANTO V. 247 

347. Dark lightning, etc. The MS. has " In lightning flashed the 
Chief's dark eye," which might serve as a commerit on Dark lightning. 

349. Kern. See on iv. 73 above. 

351. He yields not, etc. The MS. has " He stoops not, he, to James 
nor Fate." 

356. Carpet knight. Cf. Shakespeare, T. N. iii. 4. 257: "He is 
knight, dubbed with unhatclied rapier and on carpet consideration." 

364. Rtith. Pity ; obsolete, though we still have ricthless. Cf. Spen- 
ser, F. Q. i. I. 50: 

' ' to stirre up gentle ruth 
Both for her noble blood, and for her tender youth ; " 

Milton, Lycidas, 163 : " Look homeward, Angel, now, and melt with 
ruth," etc. 

380. His targe. Scott says : " A round target of light wood, covered 
with strong leather and studded with brass or iron, was a necessary 
part of a Highlander's equipment. In charging regular troops they re- 
ceived the thrust of the bayonet in this buckler, twisted it aside, and 
used the broadsword against the encumbered soldier. In the civil war 
of 1745 most of the front rank of the clans were thus armed; and 
Captain Grose {Military Antiquities, vol. i. p. 164) informs us that in 
1747 the privates of the 42d regiment, then in Flanders, were for the 
most part permitted to carry targets. A person thus armed had a con- 
siderable advantage in private fray. Among verses between Swift and 
Sheridan, lately published by Dr. Barrett, there is an account of such 
an encounter, in which the circumstances, and consequently the rela- 
tive superiority of the combatants, are precisely the reverse of those in 
the text : 

' A Highlander once fought a Frenchman at Margate, 
The weapons, a rapier, a backsword, and target ; 
Brisk Monsieur advanced as fast as he could, 
But all his fine pushes were caught in the wood, 
And Sawny, with backsword, did slash him and nick him, 
While t'other, enraged that he could not once prick him, 
Cried, " Sirrah, you rascal, you son of a whore. 
Me will fight you, he gar ! if you '11 come from your door." ' " 

383. Trained abroad. That is, in France. See on i. 163 above. 
Scott says here : " The use of defensive armor, and particularly of the 
buckler, or target, v/as general in Queen Elizabeth's time, although that 
of the single rapier seems to have been occasionally practised much ear- 
lier (see t)o\xct^s Illustrations of Shakespeare, vol. ii. p. 61). Rowland 
Yorke, however, who betrayed the fort of Zutphen to the Spaniards, for 
which good service he was afterwards poisoned by them, is said to 
have been the first who brought the rapier-fight into general use. 
Fuller, speaking of the swash-bucklers, or bullies, of Queen Elizabeth's 
time, says, 'West Smithfield was formerly called Ruffians' Hall, where 
such men usually met, casually or otherwise, to try masteries with sword 
and buckler. More were frightened than hurt, more hurt than killed 
therewith, it being accounted unmanly to strike beneath the knee. But 
since that desperate traitor Rowland Yorke first introduced thrusting 
with rapiers, sword and buckler are disused.' In The Two Angry 
Women of Abingdon, a comedy, printed in 1599, we have a pathetic 



248 



NOTES. 



complaint : ' Sword and buckler fight begins to grow out of use. I am 
sorry for it ; I shall never see good manhood again. If it be once gone, 
this poking fight of rapier and dagger will come up ; then a tall man 
and a good sword and buckler man will be spitted like a cat or rabbit.' 
But the rapier had upon the Continent long superseded, in private duel, 
the use of sword and shield. The masters of the noble science of de- 
fence were chiefly Italians. They made great mystery of their art and 
mode of instruction, never suffered any person to be present but the 
scholar who was to be taught, and even examined closets, beds, and 
other places of possible concealment. Their lessons often gave the 
most treacherous advantages ; for the challenged, having the right to 
choose his weapons, frequently selected some strange, unusual, and in- 
convenient kind of arms, the use of which he practised under these 
instructors, and thus killed at his ease his antagonist, to whom it was 
presented for the first time on the field of battle. See Brantome's Dis- 
course on Duels, and the work on the same subject, 'j"/ gentement ecrif,'' 
by the venerable Dr. Paris de Puteo. The Highlanders continued to 
use broadsword and target until disarmed after the affair of 1745-6." 

385. Ward. Posture of defence ; a technical term in fencing. Cf. 
Falstaff's " Thou knowest my old ward " (i Hen. IV. ii. 4. 215), etc. 

387. While less expei-t, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Not Roderick thus, though stronger far. 
More tall, and more inured to war." 

401, 402. And backward, etc. This couplet is not in the MS. ; and 
the same is true of 405, 406. 

406. Let recreant yield, t.\.Q.. The MS. has "Yield they alone who 
fear to die." Scott says : " I have not ventured to render this duel so 
savagely desperate as that of the celebrated Sir Ewan of Lochiel, chief 
of the clan Cameron, called, from his sable complexion, Ewan Dhu. 
He was the last man in Scotland who maintained the royal cause during 
the great Civil War, and his constant incursions rendered him a very 
unpleasant neighbor to the republican garrison at Inverlochy, now Fort 
William. The governor of the fort detached a party of three hundred 
men to lay waste Lochiel's possessions and cut down his trees; but in 
a sudden and desperate attack made upon them by the chieftain with 
very inferior numbers, they were almost all cut to pieces. The skir- 
mish is detailed in a curious memoir of Sir Ewan's life, printed in the 
Appendix of Pennant's Scottish Tour (vol. i. p. 375) : 

' In this engagement Lochiel himself had several wonderful escapes. 
In the retreat of the English, one of the strongest and bravest of the 
officers retired behind a bush, when he observed Lochiel pursuing, and 
seeing him unaccompanied with any, he leapt out and thought him his 
prey. They met one another with equal fury. The combat was long 
and doubtful : the English gentleman had by far the advantage in 
strength and size ; but Lochiel, exceeding him in nimbleness and agility, 
in the end tript the sword out of his hand; they closed and wrestled, 
till both fell to the ground in each other's arms. The English officer 
got above Lochiel, and pressed him hard, but stretching forth his neck, 
by attempting to disengage himself, Lochiel, who by this time had his 
hands at liberty, with his left hand seized him by the collar, and jump- 



CANTO V. «49 

ing at his extended throat, he bit it with his teeth quite through, and 
kept such a hold of his grasp, that he brought away his mouthful ; this, 
he said, was the sweetest bit he ever had in his lifetime.'' " 
435- Unwoiindedy etc. The MS. reads : 



and just below : 



" Panting and breathless on the sands. 
But all unwounded, now he stands ; 

"Redeemed, unhoped, from deadly strife ; 

Next on his foe his look he \ f^f ' , 
[ mrew, 

Whose every breath appeared his last." 



447. Unbonneted. Past tense, not participle. 

449. The7ifai7tt afar. The MS. has " Faint and afar." 

452. Lincoln green. See on i. 464 above. 

462. We destined, etc. Cf. iv. 411 above. 

465. Weed. Dress. See on iv. 506 above. 

466. Botme. Ready. See on iv. 36 above. 
479. Steel. Spur. Cf. i. 115 above. 

485. Carhonie's hill. About a mile from the lower end 'oi Loch 
Vennachar. 

486. Pricked. Spurred. It came to mean ride ; as vcv F. Q. \. i. i : 
" A gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine," etc. Cf. 754 below. 

490. Torry and Lendrick. These places, like Deanstown, Doune (see 
on iv. 19 above), Blair-Driujimond, Ochtertyre, and J^ier, are all on the 
banks of the Teith, between Callander and Stirling. Lockhart says : 
'•' It may be worth noting that the poet marks the progress of the King 
by naming in succession places familiar and dear to his own early 
recollections — Blair-Drummond, the seat of the Homes of Kaimes ; 
Kier, that of the principal family of the name of Stirling; Ochtertyre^ 
that of John Ramsay, the well-known antiquary, and correspondent of 
Burns; and Craigforth, that of the Callenders of Craigforth, almost 
under the walls of Stirling Castle ; — all hospitable roofs, under which 
he had spent many of his younger days." 

494. Sees the hoofs strike fire. The MS. has "Saw their hoofs of 
fire." 

496. They mark, etc. The to of the infinitive is omitted in glance^ as 
if mark had been see. 

498. Sweltering. The 1st ed. has "swelling." 

506. Flinty. The MS. has "steepy;" and in 514 "gains " for scales. 

525. Saint Serle. " The King himself is in such distress for a rhyme 
as to be obliged to apply to one of the obscurest saints in the calendar " 
(Jeffrey). The MS. has "by my word," and "Lord" for Earl in the 
next line. 

^34. Cambus-kenneth'' s abbey gray. See on iv. 231 above. 

547. By. Gone by, past. 

551. O sad and fatal mound i "An eminence on the northeast of the 
Castle, where state criminals were executed. Stirling was often pol- 
luted with noble blood. It is thus apostrophized by J. Johnston : 

' Discordia tristis 
Heu quoties procerum sanguine tinxit humum I 
Hoc uno infelix, et felix cetera; nusquam 
Laetior aut caeli frons geniusve soli.' 



2 $6 NOTES. 

"The fate of William, eighth Earl of Douglas, whom James II. 
stabbed in Stirling Castle with his own hand, and while under his royal 
safe-conduct, is familiar to all who read Scottish history. Murdack 
Duke of Albany, Duncan Earl of Lennox, his father-in-law, and his two 
sons, Walter and Alexander Stuart, were executed at Stirling, in 1425. 
They were beheaded upon an eminence without the Castle walls, but 
making part of the same hill, from whence they could behold their 
strong Castle of Doune and their extensive possessions. This ' heading 
hill,' as it was sometimes termed, bears commonly the less terrible 
name of Hurly-hacket, from its having been the scene of a courtly 
amusement alluded to by Sir David Lindsay, who says of the pas- 
times in which the young King was engaged : 

' Some harled him to the Hurly-hacket ; ' 

wnich consisted in sliding — in some sort of chair, it may be supposed 
— from top to bottom of a smooth bank. The boys of Edinburgh, 
about twenty years ago, used to play at the hurly-hacket on the Calton 
Hill, using for their seat a horse's skull " (Scott). 

558. The Franciscan steeple. The Greyfriars Church, built by James 
IV. in 1594 on the hill not far from the Castle, is still standing, and has 
been recently restored. Here James VI. was crowned on the 29th of 
July, 1567, and John Knox preached the coronation sermon. 

562. Morrice-dancers. The morrice or morris dance was probably of 
Spanish {ox Moorish, as the name implies) origin, but after its introduc- 
tion into England it became blended with the Mayday games. A full 
historical account of it is given in Douce's Illustratio7is of Shakespeare. 
The characters in it in early times were the following: "Robin Hood, 
Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marian (Robin's mistress and the queen 
or lady of the May), the fool, the piper, and several morris-dancers 
habited, as it appears, in various modes. Afterwards a hobby-horse 
and a dragon were added" (Douce). For a description of the game, 
see Scott's Abbot, ch. xiv., and the author's note. See also on 614 
below. 

564. The burghers hold their sports to-day. Scott has the following 
note here : 

"Every burgh of Scotland of the least note, but more especially the 
considerable towns, had their solemn play, or festival, when feats of 
archery were exhibited, and prizes distributed to those who excelled in 
wrestling, hurling the bar, and the other gymnastic exercises of the 
period. Stirling, a usual place of royal residence, was not likely to be 
deficient in pomp upon such occasions, especially since James V. was 
very partial to them. His ready participation in these popular amuse- 
ments was one cause of his acquiring the title of the King of the 
Commons, or Rex Plebeiornm, as Lesley has latinized it. The usual 
prize to the best shooter was a silver arrow. Such a one is preserved 
at Selkirk and at Peebles. At Dumfries a silver gun was substituted, 
and the contention transferred to firearms. The ceremony, as there 
performed, is the subject of an excellent Scottish poem, by Mr. John 
Mayne, entitled the Siller Gitn, 1808, which surpasses the efforts of 
Fergusson, and comes near those of Burns. 



CANTO V. 251 

" Of James's attachment to archery, Pitscottie, the faithful though 
rude recorder of the manners of that period, has given us evidence : 

* In this year there came an ambassador out of England, named Lord 
William Howard, with a bishop with him, with many other gentlemen, 
to the number of threescore horse, which were all able men and waled 
[picked] men for all kind of games and pastimes, shooting, louping, 
running, wrestling, and casting of the stone, but they were well sayed 
[essayed or triedj ere they past out of Scotland, and that by their own 
provocation; but ever they tint: till at last, the Queen of Scotland, the 
King's mother, favoured the English-men, because she was the King 
of England's sister ; and therefore she took an enterprise of archery 
upon the English-men's hands, contrary her son the King, and any six 
in Scotland that he would wale, either gentlemen or yeomen, that the 
English-men should shoot against them either at pricks, revers, or buts, 
as the Scots pleased. 

'The King, hearing this of his mother, was content, and gart her pawn 
a hundred crowns and a tun of wine upon the English-men's hands; 
and he incontinent laid down as much for the Scottish-men. The field 
and ground was chosen in St. Andrews, and three landed men and 
three yeomen chosen to shoot against the English-men, — to wit, David 
Wemyss of that ilk, David Arnot of that ilk, and Mr. John Wedder- 
burn, vicar of Dundee ; the yeomen, John Thomson, in Leith, Steven 
Taburner, with a piper, called Alexander Bailie ; they shot very near, 
and warred [worsted] the English-men of the enterprise, and wan the 
hundred crowns and the tun of wine, which made the King very merry 
that his men wan the victory.' " 

571. Play my prize. The same expression occurs in Shakespeare, 
T. A. i. I. 399: "You have play'd your prize." Cf. also M. of V. iii. 2. 
142 : *' Like one of two contending in a prize," etc 

575. The Castle gates. The main entrance to the Castle, not i\iQ postern 
gate of 532 above. 

580. Fair Scotland's King, etc. The MS. reads: 

" King James and all his nobles went . . . 
Ever the King was bending low 
To his white jennet's saddle-bow, 
Doffing his cap to burgher dame, 
Who smiling blushed for pride and shame." 

601. There nobles, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Nobles who mourned their power restrained, 
And the poor burgher's joys disdained ; 
Dark chief, who, hostage for his clan, 
Was from his home a banished man. 
Who thought upon his own gray tower, 
Tlie waving woods, his feudal bower, 
And deemed himself a shameful part 
Of pageant that he cursed in heart." 

611. With bell at heel. Douce says that "the number of bells round 
each leg of the morris-dancers amounted from twenty to forty;" but 
Scott, in a note to The Fair Maid of Perth, speaks of 252 small bells 
in sets of twelve at regular musical intervals. 

612. Their mazes wheel. The MS. adds : 

" With awkward stride there city groom 
Would part of fabled knight assume. " 



25^ 



NOTES. 







THE GATE OF STIRLING CASTLE. 



614. Robin Hood. Scott says here : " The exhibition of this renowned 
outlaw and his band was a favorite frolic at such festivals as we are de- 
scribing. This sporting, in which kings did not disdain to be actors, 
was prohibited in Scotland upon the Reformation, by a statute of the 
6th Parliament of Queen Mary, c. 61, A. D. 1555, which ordered, under 
heavy penalties, that ' na manner of person be chosen Robert Hude, 
nor Little John, Abbot of Unreason, Queen of May, nor otherwise.' 
But in 1561, the 'rascal multitude,' says John Knox, 'were stirred up 
to make a Robin Hude, whilk enormity was of mony years left and 
damned by statute and act of Parliament ; yet would they not be for- 
bidden.' Accordingly they raised a very serious tumult, and at length 
made prisoners the magistrates who endeavored to suppress it, and 
would not release them till they extorted a formal promise that no one 
should be punished for his share of the disturbance. It would seem, 
from the complaints of the General Assembly of the Kirk, that these 
profane festivities were continued down to 1592 [Book of the Universal 
Kirk, p. 414). Bold Robin was, to say the least, equaUv successful in 



CANTO V, 253 

maintaining his ground against the reformed clergy of England ; for 
the simple and evangelical Latimer complains of coming to a country- 
church where the people refused to hear him because it was Robin 
Hood's day, and his mitre and rochet were fain to giye way to the 
village pastime. Much curious information on this subject may be 
found in the Preliminary Dissertation to the late Mr. Ritson's edition 
of the songs respecting this memorable outlaw. The game of Robin 
Hood was usually acted in May; and he was associated with the mor- 
rice-dancers, on whom so much illustration has been bestowed by the 
commentators on Shakespeare. A very lively picture of these festivi- 
ties, containing a great deal of curious information on the subject of the 
private life and amusements of our ancestors, was thrown, by the late 
ingenious Mr. Strutt, into his romance entitled Queen-hoo Hall, pub- 
lished after his death, in 1808." 

615. Friar Tuck. "Robin Hood's fat friar," as Shakespeare calls 
him ( T. G. of V. iv. i. 36), who figures in the Robin Hood ballads and 
in Tvanhoe. ' Scarlet and Little John are mentioned in one of Master 
Silence's snatches of song in 2 Hen. TV. v. 3. 107 : " And Robin, Scarlet, 
and John." Scathdocke is a brother of Scarlet in Ben Jonson's Sad 
Shepherd, which is a " Tale of Robin Hood," and Mutch is a bailiff in 
the same play. 

626. Stake. Prize. 

627. Fondly he watched, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Fondly he watched, with watery eye, 
For answering glance of sympathy, 
But no emotion made reply ! 
Indifferent as to unknown \ wip-ht 
Cold as to unknown yeoman I ^ ' 
The King gave forth the arrow bright." 

630. To archer wight. That is, to any ordinary archer. Scott has 
the following note here : 

" The Douglas of the poem is an imaginary person, a supposed uncle 
of the Earl of Angus. But the King's behavior during an unexpected 
interview with the Laird of Kilspindie, one of the banished Douglases, 
under circumstances similar to those in the text, is imitated from a real 
story told by Hume of Godscroft. I would have availed myself more 
fully of the simple and affecting circumstances of the old history, had 
they not been already woven into a pathetic ballad by my friend Mr. 
Fmlay.i 

' His [the King's] implacability [towards the family of Douglas] did 
also appear in his carriage towards Archibald of Kilspindie, whom he, 
when he was a child, loved singularly well for his ability of body, and 
was wont to call him his Gray-Steill."^ Archibald, being banished into 
England, could not well comport with the humor of that nation, which 
he thought to be too proud, and that they had too high a conceit of 
themselves, joined with a contempt and despising of all others. Where- 
fore, being wearied of that life, and remembering the King's favor of 
old towards him, he determined to try the King's mercifulness and clem- 

* See Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads, Glasgow, 1808, rol. ii. p. 117. 

* A champion of popular romance ; see Ellis's Romances^ vol. iii. 



254 NOTES. 

encj. So he comes into Scotland, and taking occasion of the King's 
hunting in the park at Stirling, he casts himself to be in his way, as he 
was coming home to the Castle. So soon as the Kmg saw him afar off, 
ere he came near, he guessed it was he, and said to one of his courtiers, 
" Yonder is my Gray-Steill, Archibald of Kilspindie, if he be alive." The 
other answered that it could not be he, and that he durst not come 
into the King's presence. The King approaching, he fell upon his 
knees and craved ])ardon, and promised from thenceforward to abstain 
from meddling in public aff .irs, and to lead a quiet and private life. 
The King went by without giving him any answer, and trotted a good 
round pace up the hill. Kilspindie followed, and though he wore on 
him a secret, or shirt of mail, for his particular enemies, was as soon 
at the Castle gate as the King. There he sat him down upon a stone 
without, and entreated some of the King's servants for a cup of drink, 
being weary and thirty ; but they, fearing the King's displeasure, durst 
give him none. When the King was set at his dinner, he asked what 
he had done, what he had said, and whither he had gone .'' It was told 
him that he had desired a cup of drink, and had gotten none. The King 
reproved them very sharply for their discourtesy, and told them that 
if he had not taken an oath that no Douglas should ever serve him, 
he would have received him into his service, for he had seen him some- 
time a man of great ability. Then he sent him word to go to Leith, 
and expect his further pleasure. Then some kinsman of David Fal- 
coner, the cannonier, that was slain at Tantallon, began to quarrel with 
Archibald about the matter, wherewith the King showed himself not 
well pleased when he heard of it. Then he commanded him to go to 
France for a certain space, till he heard further from him. And so he 
did, and died shortly after. This gave occasion to the King of England 
(Henry VIII, ) to blame his nephew, alleging the old saying, That a 
king's face should give grace. For this Archibald (whatsoever were 
Angus's 07' Sir George's fault) had not been principal actor of anything, 
nor no counsellor nor stirrer up, but only a follower of his friends, and 
that noways cruelly disposed' [Hume of Godscroft, ii. 107)." 

637. Larbert is a town about ten miles to the south of Stirling, and 
illoa another seven miles to the east on I'.ie north side of the Forth. 

641. To Douglas gave a golden 7'ing. Scott says: "The usual prize 
of a wrestling was a ram and a ring, but the animal would have em- 
barrassed my story. Thus, in the Cokes Tale of Gamelyn, ascribed to 
Chaucer : 

'There happed to be there beside 

Tryed a wrestling ; 
And tlierefore there was y-setten 

A ram and als a ring." 

Again, the Litil Geste of Robin Hood: 

' By a bridge was a wrestling, 

And there taryed was he. 
And there was all the best yemen 

Of all the west countrey. 
A full fayre game there was set up, 

A white bull up y-i^ight, 
A great courser with saddle and brydle, 

With gold burnished full bryght ; 



CANTO V. ^55 

A payre of gloves, a red golde ringe, 

A pipe of wine, good fay ; 
What man beietli him best, I wis, 

The prise shall bear away.' " 

648. To hurl the massive bar. Cf . iv. 559 above, 
658. Scottish strength. The MS. has "mortal strength." 
660. The Ladies' Rock. A point in the "valley" between the Castle 
and the Greyfriars Church. It was formerly the chief place for viewing 
the games, which were held in this " valley," or depression in the hill 
on which the Castle stands. It must not be confounded with the 
Ladies' Lookoitt., a favorite point of view on the Castle walls. 

662. Well filled. The MS. has" weighed down ; " and in 664, " Scat 
tered the gold among the crowd." 

674. Ere Douglas, etc. The MS. has "Ere James of Douglas' stal- 
wart hand ; " and in 677, " worn " for wrecked. 
6S1. Murmurs. Some eds. have "murmur." 
6S5. The banished 7f I an. The MS. has " his stately form." 
724. Needs but a buffet. Only a single blow is needed. 
728. Then clamored, tic. The MS. and ist ed. have "Clamored his 
comrades of the train ; " and in 730 the MS. has " warrior's " for 
Baro7t's. 

735. Atone. See on iv. 421 above. 

744. But shall a Monarches presence, etc. The MS. reads: 

" But in my court injurious blow, 
And bearded thus, and thus out-dared? 
What, ho ! " etc. 

747. Ward. Guarding, confinement under guard. Cf. Gen. xl. 3. 
752. Misarray, Disorder, confusion. Neither Wb. nor Wore, gives 
the word. 

754. Pricked. Spurred, rode. See on 486 above. 

755. Repelled, etc. The MS. has "Their threats repelled by insult 
loud." 

768. Hyndford. A village on the Clyde, a few miles above LanarK. 

790. Widow's mate expires. An instance of prolepsis, or " anticipa- 
tion " in the use of a word. He must expire before she can be a 
widow. Cf. Macbeth, iii. 4. 76 : 

*' Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time, 
Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal ; " 

tliat is, purged it and made it gentle. 
794. Ward. Ward off, avert. 
796. The crowd's tvildfury, etc. The MS. reads : 

"The crowd's wild fury ebbed amain 
In tears, as tempests sink in rain." 

The ist ed. reads as in the text, but that of 1821 has "sunk amain." 

The figure here is a favorite one with Shakespeare. Cf. R, of L, 
1788: 

"This windy tempest, till it blow up rain, 

Held back his sorrow's tide, to make it more ; 
At last it rains, and busy winds give o'er ; " 

•^Hen, VL i. 4. 146: 

" For raging wind blows up incessant showers, 
And, when the rage allays, the rain begins ; " 



356 NOTES. 

Id. ii. 5. 85 : 

" see, see, what showers arise, 
Blown with the windy tempest of my heart ; " 

T, and C. iv. 4. 55 : " Where are my tears ? rain, to lay this wind, or mv 
heart will be blown up by the root ; " and Macbeth, i. 7. 25 : " That 
tears shall drown the wind." 

808. The rough soldier. Sir John of Hyndford (768 above). 

811. He led. The ist ed. has "they led," and "their" for his in 813. 

812. Verge. Note the rhyme with charge, and see on iv. 83 above. 
819. This common fool. Cf. Shakespeare's "fool multitude" {M. of 

V. ii. 9. 26). Just below Lockhart quotes Coriolanus, i. i. 180: 

" Who deserves greatness 
Deserves your hate; and your affections are 
A sick man's appetite, who desires most that 
Which would increase his evil. He that depends 
Upon your favors swims with fins of lead 
And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye ! Trust ye ? 
With every minute you do change a mind, 
And call him noble that was now your hate, 
Him vile that was your garland." 

821. Douglas. The reading of the ist ed., as in 825 below; not 
" Douglas'," as in some recent eds. 

830. Vai7i as the leaf etc. The MS. has "Vain as the sick man's 
idle dream." 

838. Cognizance. "The sable pale of Mar." See on iv. 153 above. 

853. With scanty traiit, tic. The MS. has "On distant chase you 
will not ride." 

856. Lost it. Forgot it. 

858. For spoiling of. For fear of ruining. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 

52-4: 

' The which he will not every hour survey, 
For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure ; 

T. G. of V. i. 2. 136: "Yet here they shall not lie for catching cold;" 
Beaumont and Fletcher, Captain, iii. 5 : " We '11 have a bib for spoiling 
of thy doublet," etc. 

887. Earl William. The Douglas who was stabbed by James II. 
See on 551 above. 



CANTO SIXTH. 

" Lord Jeffrey has objected to the guard-room scene and its accom- 
panying song as the greatest blemish in the whole poem. The scene 
contrasts forcibly with the grace which characterizes the rest ; but in 
a poem which rests its interest upon incident, such a criticism seems 
overstrained. It gives us a vigorous picture of a class of men who 
played a very important part in the history of the time, especially 
across the Border; men who, many of them outlaws, and fighting, not 
for country or for king, but for him who paid them best, were humored 



CANTO VI. 257 

with every license when they were not on strict military duty. The 
requirements of the narrative might have been satisfied without these 
details, it is true; but the use which Sir Walter has made of them — 
to show the power of beauty and innocence, and the chords of tender- 
ness and goodness which lie ready to vibrate in the wildest natures — 
may surely reconcile us to such a piece of realism. 

" The scene of Roderick's death harmonizes well with his character. 
The minstrel's account of the battle the poet himself felt to be some- 
what long, and yet it is difficult to see how it could be curtailed without 
spoiling it. It is full of life and vigor, and our only cause of surprise 
is that the lay should only come to a sudden stand when it is really 
completed" (Taylor). 

6. Scaring, etc. The ist ed. reads : "And scaring prowling robbers 
to their den." 

7. Battled. Battlemented ; as in ii. 702 above. 

9. The kind nurse of men. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. i. 5: 

" O sleep, O gentle sleep, 
Nature's soft nurse," etc. 

23. Through narrow loop, etc. The MS. has "Through blackened 
arch," etc. ; and below : 

*' The lights in strange alliance shone 
Beneath the arch of blackened stone." 

25. Struggling with. Some recent eds. misprint " struggling through." 

47. Adventurers they., etc. Scott says: "The Scottish armies con- 
sisted chiefly of the nobility and barons, with their vassals, who held 
lands under them for military service by themselves and their tenants. 
The patriarchal influence exercised by the heads of clans in the High- 
lands and Borders was of a different nature, and sometimes at variance 
with feudal principles. It flowed from the Patria Potestas, exercised 
by the chieftain as representing the original father of the whole name, 
and was often obeyed in contradiction to the feudal superior. James 
V. seems first to have introduced, in addition to the militia furnished 
from these sources, the service of a small number of mercenaries, who 
formed a body-guard, called the Foot-Band. The satirical poet, Sir 
David Lindsay (or the person who wrote the prologue to his play of 
the Three Estaites), has introduced Finlay of the Foot-Band, who after 
much swaggering upon the stage is at length put to flight by the Fool, 
who terrifies him by means of a sheep's skull upon a pole. I have 
rather chosen to give them the harsh features of the mercenary soldiers 
of the period, than of this Scottish Thraso. These partook of the 
character of the Adventurous Companions of Froissart, or the Con- 
dottieri of Italy." 

53. The Fleming., etc. The soil of Flanders is very fertile and pro- 
ductive, in marked contrast to the greater part of Scotland. 

60. Halberd. A combination of spear and battle-axe. See Wb. 

63. Holytide. Holiday. For //«'<? = time, see on iii. 478 above. 

73. Ahighboring to. That is, lying in adjacent rooms. 

75. Burden. Alluding to the Imrdejt, or chorus, of a song. Cf. 
ii. 392 above. The MS. has "jest" for Joke; and in the next line 
"And rude oaths vented by the rest." 

17 



258 NOTES. 

78. Tre7it. The English river of that name. Cf. 231 below. 
84. That day. Modiiying cut s/wrt, not £-r/eved. 

87. A merry catch I troll. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. iii. 2. 126: "will 
you troll the catch," etc. 

88. Buxom. Lively, brisk; as in B'e7t. V. iii. 6. 27: "of buxom 
valour," etc. Its original sense was yielding, obedient; as in F. Q. 
i. II. 37 : "the buxome aire " (see also Milton, T. L. ii. 842) ; and Id, 
iii. 2. 23 : " Of them that to him buxome are and prone." For the 
derivation, see Wb. 

90. Foiile. Paul ; an old spelling, found in Chaucer and other 
writers. The measure of the song is anapestic (that is, with the ac- 
cent on every third syllable), with modifications. 

92. Black-jack. A kind of pitcher made of leather. Taylor quotes 
Old Mortality^ chap. viii. : "The large black-jack filled with very small 
beer." 

93. Sack. A name applied to Spanish and Canary wines in general ; 
but sometimes the particular kind was specified. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 3. 
104: "good sherris-sack " (that is, sherry wine) ; and Yizxxiok., Poems : 

" thy isles shall lack 
Grapes, before Herrick leaves Canarie sack." 

95. Upsees. "Bacchanalian interjection, borrowed from the Dutch" 
(Scott). Naves criticises Scott for using the word as a noun. It is gen- 
erally found in' the phrases " upsee Dutch " and " upsee Freeze " (the 
same thing, Frise being = Dutch), which appear to mean "in the Dutch 
fashion." Cf. Ben Jonson, Alchemist, iv. 6 : 

" I do not like the dullness of your eye, 
It hath a heavy cast, 'tis upsee Dutch ; " 

that is, looks like intoxication. See also Beaumont and Fletcher, Beg- 
gar's Bush, \x. a^-. " The bowl . . . which must be upsey English, strong, 
lusty, London beer " 

98. Kerchief. See on iii. 495 above. 

100. Gillian. A common old English name (according to Coles and 
others, a corrujition oi Juliana), often contracted into Gill ox Jill, and 
used as a familiar term for a woman, Tijs, Jack was for a man. The two 
are often associated ; as in the proverbs " Every Jack must have his 
Jill," and " A good Jack makes a good Jill." 

103. Flacket. Explained by some as = stomacher ; by others as = 
petticoat, or the slit or opening in those garments. Cf. Wb. It is 
often used figuratively for woman, as here. Placket and pot = \voxxitx\ 
and wine. 

104. Itirch. Rob. Cf. Shakespeare, Cor. ii. 2. 105: "He lurch'd all 
swords of the garland ; " that is, robbed them all of the prize. 

112. The drum. The ist ed. has "your drum." 
116. Plaid. For the rhyme, see on i. 363 above. 

124. Store of blood. Plenty of blood. Cf. Milton, V Allegro, 121: 
" With store of ladies," etc. See also on the adjective, i. 548 above. 
127. Reward thy toil. The MS. goes on- thus: 

" Get thee an ape, and then at once 
TI10U mayst renounce the warder's lance, 
And trudge tlirongh borough and through land, 
The leader of a juggler band." 



CANTO VI. 259 

Scott has the following note here : "The j'ongletirs, or jugglers, as we 
learn from the elaborate work of the late Mr. Strutt, on the sports and 
pastimes of the people of England, used to call in the aid of various 
assistants, to render these performances as captivating as possible. The 
glee-maiden was a necessary attendant. Her duty was tumbling and 
dancing; and therefore the Anglo-Saxon version of Saint Mark's Gos- 
pel states Herodias to have vaulted or tumbled before King Herod. 
In Scotland these poor creatures seem, even at a late period, to have 
been bondswomen to their masters, as appears from a case reported by 
Fountainhall : ' Reid the mountebank pursues Scot of Harden and his 
lady for stealing away from him a little girl, called the tumbling-lassie, 
that danced upon his stage ; and he claimed damages, and produced a 
contract, whereby he bought her from her mother for £t^o Scots. But 
we have no slaves in Scotland, and mothers cannot sell their bairns ; 
and physicians attested the employment of tumbling would kill her ; 
and her joints were now grown stiff, and she declined to return ; though 
she was at least a 'prentice, and so could not run away from her mas- 
ter ; yet some cited Moses's law, that if a servant shelter himself with 
thee against his master's cruelty, thou shalt surely not deliver him up. 
The Lords, renitente cancellaric, assoilzied Harden on the 27th of Janu- 
ary (1687) ' (Fountainhall's Decisions, vol. i. p. 439)." 

136. Purvey. Provide. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 12. 10: "He all things 
did purvay which for them needfull weare." 

147. Bertram^ etc. The MS. has "Bertram \ , > violence with- 
stood." 

152. The tartan screen. That is, the tartan which she had drawn 
over her head as a veil. 

155. The savage soldiery, etc The MvS. has " While the rude soldiery, 
amazed; " and in 164 below, " Should Ellen Douglas suffer wrong." 

167. I shame me. I shame myself, I am ashamed. The verb was 
formerly used intransitively in this sense. Cf. Shakespeare, R. of L. 
1143 : "As shaming any eye should thee behold;" A. Y. L. iv. 3. 136: 
" I do not shame to tell you what I was," etc. 

170. Needwood. A royal forest in Staffordshire. 

171. Poor Rose., etc. The MS. reads: 

" ' My Rose,' — he wiped his iron eye and brow, — 
' Poor Rose, — if Rose be Hving now.' " 

178. Part. Act; used for the rhyme. The expression is not unlike 
" do the part of an honest man " [Much Ado, ii. 1. 172), or " act the part," 
as we should iiow put it. 

183. Tullibardine. The name of an old seat of the Murray family, 
about twenty miles from Stirling. 

199. Errant daniosel. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. i. 19: "Th' adventure 
of the Errant damozell." 

209. Given by the Monarch, etc. The MS. has " The Monarch gave 
to James Fitz-James." 

218. Bozuer. Chamber. See on i. 217 above. 

222. Permit I marshal you the way. Permit that I conduct you 
thither. 



26o NOTES. 

^33' The vacant purse, €<.z. The MS. reads: 

" The silken purse shall serve for me, 
And m my barret-cap shall flee " — 

a forced rhyme which the poet did well to get rid of. 
234. Barret-cap. Cloth cap. Cf. the Lay, iii. 216.' 

"Old England's sign, St. George's cross, 
His barret-cap did grace." 

He puts the purse in his cap as z. favor. See on iv. 686 above. 

242. Master^s. He means the Douglas, but John of Brent takes it 
to refer to Roderick. See 305 below. 

261. Wot. Know, understand. See on i. 596 above. 

276. Rugged vaults. The MS. has "low broad vaults;" and in 279, 
"stretching " for crushing. 

291. Oakett Jioor. The MS. and ist ed. have "flinty floor;" and 
below: 

" ' thou mayst remain ; ' 

And then, retiring, bolt and chain, 
And rusty bar, he drew again. 
Roused at the sound," etc. 

292, 293. Such . . . hold. This couplet is not in the 1st ed., and pre- 
sumably not in the MS., though the fact is not noted by Lockhart. 

295. Leech. Physician. Cf. F. Q. iii. 3. 18 : " Yf any leaches skill," 
etc. ; and in the preceding stanza, " More neede of leach-crafte hath your 
Damozell," etc. 

306. Prore. Prow {hditm prora) ; used only in poetry. 

309. Astrand. On strand (cf. ashore), stranded. 

316. At sea. The MS. has "on main," and "plain'' for lea in the 
rhyme. The ist ed. and that of 1821 have "on sea." 

334. Has never harp, etc. The MS. reads : 

" Shall never harp of minstrel tell 
Of combat fought so fierce and well." 

348. Strike it ! Scott says : "There are several instances, at least in 
tradition, of persons so much attached to particular tunes, as to require 
to hear them on their death-bed. Such an anecdote is mentioned by 
the late Mr. Riddel of Glenriddel, in his collection of Border tunes, re- 
specting an air called the ' Dandling of the Bairns,' for which a certain 
Gallovidian laird is said to have evinced this strong mark of partiality. 
It is popularly told of a famous freebooter, that he composed the tune 
known by the name of Macpherson's Rant while under sentence of 
death, and played it at the gallows-tree. Some spirited words have 
been adapted to it by Burns. A similar story is recounted of a Welsh 
bard, who composed and played on his death-bed the air called Dafyddy 
Garregg Wen. But the most curious example is given by Brantome of 
a maid of honor at the court of France, entitled Madenioiselle de Liineuil : 
* Durant sa maladie, dont elle trespassa, jamais elle ne ccssa, ainsi causa 
tousjours ; car elle estoit fort grande parleuse, brocardeuse, et tres-bien 
etfort'a propos, et tres-belle avec cela. Quand I'heure de sa fin fut 
venue, elle fit venir a soy son valet (ainsi que les filles de la cour en ont 
chacune un), qui s'appelloit Julien, et sgavoit tres-bien joiier du violon, 
"Julien," luy dit elle, "prenez vostre violon, et sonnez moy tousjours 



CANTO VI. 261 

jusques a ce que vous me voyez morte (car je m'y en vais) la Defaite 
des Suisses, at le mieux que vous pourrez, et quand vous serez sur le 
mot, ' Tout est perdu/ sonnez le par quatre ou cinq fois, le plus piteuse- 
ment que vous pourrez," ce qui fit I'autre, et elle-mesme luy aidoit de 
la voix, et quand ce vint "tout est perdu," eJIe le reitera par deux fois ; 
et se tournant de I'autre coste du chevet, elle dit a ses compagnes : 
" Tout est perdu a ce coup, et a bon escient; " et ainsi deceda. Voila 
une morte joyeuse et plaisante. Je tiens ce conte de deux de ses com- 
pagnes, dignes de foi, qui virent joiier ce mystere ' ( CEavres de Bran- 
tome, iii. 507). The tune to which this fair lacly chose to make her final 
exit was composed on the defeat of the Swiss at Marignano. The bur- 
den is quoted by Panurge in Rabelais, and consists of these words, 
imitating the jargon of the Swiss, which is a mixture of French and 
German : 

* Tout est verlore, 
La Tintelore, 
Tout est verlore bi Got. ' " 

362. With what, etc. This line is not in the MS. 

369. Battle of Beat' an Duine. Scott has the following note here : 

" A skirmish actually took place at a pass thus called in the Trosachs, 
and closed with the remarkable incident mentioned in the text. It was 
greatly posterior in date to the reign of James V. 

' In this roughly-wooded island ^ the country people secreted their 
wives and children and their most valuable effects from the rapacity of 
Cromwell's soldiers during their inroad into this country, in the time 
of the republic. These invaders, not venturing to ascend by the ladders 
along the side of the lake, took a more circuitous road through the 
heart of the Trosachs, the most frequented path at that time, which 
penetrates the wilderness about half way between Binean and the lake 
by a tract called Yea-chilleach, or the Old Wife's Bog. 

* In one of the defiles of this by-road the men of the country at that, 
time hung upon the rear of the invading enemy, and shot one of Crom- 
well's men, whose grave marks the scene of action, and gives name to 
that pass.2 In revenge of this insult, the soldiers resolved to plunder 
the island, to violate the women, and put the children to death. 
With this brutal intention, one of the party, more expert than the rest, 
swam towards the island, to fetch the boat to his comrades, which had 
carried the women to their asylum, and lay moored in one of the 
creeks. His companions stood on the shore of the mainland, in full 
view of all that was to pass, waiting anxiously for his return with the 
boat. But just as the swimmer had got to the nearest point of the 
island, and was laying hold of a black rock to get on shore, a heroine, 
who stood on the very point where he meant to land, hastily snatching 
a dagger from below her apron, with one stroke severed his head from 
the body. His party seeing this disaster, and relinquishing all future 
hope of revenge or conquest, made the best of their way out of their 
perilous situation. This amazon's great grandson lives at Bridge of 
Turk, who, besides others, attests the anecdote ' {Sketch of the Scenery 

^ " That at the eastern extremity of Loch Katrine, so often mentioned in the text."- 
« "Beallach an duine." - - 



262 NOTES. 

near Callander, Stirling, 1806, p. 20). I have only to add to this 
account that the heroine's name was Helen Stuart." 

376. No ripple 071 the lake. " The liveliness of this description of the 
battle is due to the greater variety of the metre, which resembles that 
of Marmion. The three-accent lines introduced at intervals give it 
lightness, and the repetition of the same rhyme enables the poet to 
throw together without break all that forms part of one picture " 
(Taylor). 

377. Erne. Eagle. See Wb. 
392. I see, etc. Cf. iv. 152 above. 

396. Boune. See on iv. 36 above. Most eds. misprint "bound." 

404. Barded. The reading of the ist ed. and that of 1821 ; "cor- 
rected " in all the recent ones into " barbed." Scott doubtless wrote 
/^czr<7'i?^ (= armored, or wearing defensive armor; but applied only to 
horses), a word found in many old writers. Cf. Holinshed (quoted by 
Nares) : "with barded horses, all covered with iron," etc. See also 
Wb. Scott has the word again in the Lay, i. 311 : 

" Above the foaming tide, I ween. 
Scarce half the charger's neck was seen ; 
For he was barded from counter to tail, 
And the rider was armed complete in mail." 

405. Battalia. Battalion, army. The word is not a plural of bat- 
taliott, as some have seemed to think. See Wb. 

414. Vaward. In the vanward, or vanguard ; misprinted " vanward " 
in some editions. Shakespeare has the noun several times ; as in 
Hen. V. iv. 3. 130 : " The leading of the vaward ; " Cor. i. 6. 53 : " Their 
bands i' the vaward;" and figuratively in M. N. D. iv. i. no: "the 
vaward of the day," etc. 

419. Pride. Some eds. misprint "power." 

429. As. As if. See on ii. 56 above. 

434, Their flight they ply. The reading of the ist ed. and that of 
1821. Most of the eds. have "plight" iov flight, and Taylor has the 
following note on Their plight they ply : "The meaning of this is not 
very clear. Possibly ' they keep up a constant fire,' but they seem in 
too complete a rout for that." Cf. iii. 318 above. 

438. The rear. The ist ed. has " their rear." 

443. Twilight tuood. Cf. 403 above. " The appearance of the spears 
and pikes was such that in the twilight they might have been mis- 
taken at a distance for a wood " (Taylor). 

449-450. And closely shonlderiiig, etc. This couplet is not in the MS. 

452. Tinchel. " A circle of sportsmen, who, by surrounding a great 
space, and gradually narrowing, brought immense quantities of deer 
together, which usually made desperate efforts to break through the 
Tmrhel" (Scott). 

459. The tide. The ist ed. has "their tide." 

473. Now, gallants ! etc. Cf. Macaulay, Battle of Ivry : 

" Now by the lips of those ye love, 
Fair gentlemen of France, 
Charge for the golden lilies, — 
Upon them with the lance I " 



CANTO VI. 263 

483. And rejiueftt, etc. The MS. reads: 

"And refluent down the darksome pass 
The battle's tide was poured ; 
There toiled the spearman's struggling spear, 
There raged the mountain sword." 

488. Linn. Here the word is = cataract. See on i. 71 and ii. 270 
above. 

497. Minstrel, away! The MS. has "Away! away!" 

509. Surge. Note the imperfect rhyme. See on i. 223 above. 

51 r. That sullen. The reading of the ist ed. and that of 1821 ; "the 
sullen " in many eds. 

514. That parts not, etc. Lockhart quotes Byron, Giaour : 

" the loveliness in death 
That parts not quite with parting breath." 

515. Seeming, etc. The MS. reads : 

"And seemed, to minstrel ear, to toll 
The parting dirge of many a soul." 

¥ox part= depart, see on ii. 94 above. 

523. While by the lake, t\.c. The MS. reads: 

" While by the darkened lake below 
File out the spearmen of the foe." 

525. At zveary bay. See on i. 133 above. 

527. Tattered sail. The ist ed. has " shattered sail j " not noted ih 
the Errata. 

532. Saxons. Some eds. misprint " Saxon.'* 

538. ' Wont. See on i. 408 above. 

539. Store- See on i. 548 above. Bonnet-pieces were gold coins on 
which the King's head was represented with a bonnet instead of a 
crown. 

540. 71? him tvill S7vim. For the ellipsis, see on i. 528 above. 

556. Her billo7us, etc. The ist ed. has " Her billow reared his snowy 
crest," and "its " for they in the next line. 

564. It tinged, etc. The MS. has " It tinged the boats and lake with 
flame." 

Lines 561-56S are interpolated in the MS. on a slip of paper. 

565. Duncraggan'' s ividowed dame. Cf. iii. 428 fol. above. 
567. A naked dirk. The ist ed has " Her husband's dirk." 
592. Chime. Music. Cf. iv. 524 above. 

595. Varied his look, etc. The MS. has "Glowed in his look, as 

welled the song; " and in 600, " his | ^^^^/'"^ [ eye." 

602. Thus, motionless, etc. Cf. the Introduction to Rob Roy: "Rob 
Roy, while on his death-bed, learned that a person, with whom he was 
at enmity, proposed to visit him. * Raise me from my bed,' said the 
invalid; 'throw my plaid around me, and bring me my claymore, dirk, 
and pistols : it shall never be said that a foeman saw Rob Roy Mac- 
Gregor defenceless and unarmed.' His foeman, conjectured to be one 
of the MacLarens, entered and paid his compliments, inquiring after 
the health of his formidable neighbor. Rob Roy maintained a cold, 



264 NOTES. 

haughty civility during their short conference ; and so soon as he had 
left the house, ' Now,' he said, 'all is over — let the piper play Ha til 
mi tulidk ' [we return no more], and he is said to have expired before 
the dirge was finished." 

605. Grim and still. Originally "stern and still." In a note to the 
printer, sent with the final stanzas, Scott writes : " I send the grand 
finale., and so exit the Lady of the Lake from the head she has tor- 
mented for six months. In canto vi. stanza 21, — stern and still, read 
grim and still ; sternly occurs four lines higher. For a similar reason, 
stanza 24, — dim deer xtzd. fleet deer." 

608. And art thou, etc. The MS. has "'And art thou gone,' the 
Minstrel said." 

609. Foeman^s. Misprinted "foemen's" in some eds. 

610. Breadalbane. See on ii. 416 above. 

614. The shelter^ etc. The MS. has "The mightiest of a mighty 
line." 

631. Even she. That is, Ellen. 

638. Storied. Referring to the scenes depicted on the painted glass. 
Cf. Milton, II Penseroso, 159: "And storied windows, richly dight." 
The change of tense in fall is of course for the rhyme ; but we might 
expect " lighten " for lightejied. 

643. The banquet, etc. The MS. reads : 

"The banquet gay, the chamber's pride, 
Scarce drew one curious glance aside ; " 

and in 653, " earnest on his game." 

665. Of perch and hood. That is, of enforced idleness. See on ii. 
525 above. In some eds. this song is printed without any division into 
stanzas. 

670. Forest. The ist ed. and that of 1821 have " forests," but we 
suspect that Scott v^xoie forest. 

672. Is 77ieet for me. The MS. has "was meant for me." For the 
ellipsis, cf. 540 above. 

674. From yon dull sleepless," etc. The MS. has " From darkened 
steeple's," etc. See on v. 558 above. 

677. The lark, etc. The MS has " The lively lark my matins rung," 
and "sung" in the rhyme. The omission of to with rijzg and sing is 
here a poetic license ; but in Elizabethan English it is common in many 
cases where it would not now be admissible. Cf. Othello, ii. 3. 190: 
" you were wont be civil ; " F. Q. i. i. 50 : " He thought have slaine 
her," etc. 

680. A hall, etc. The MS. has " a hall should harbor me." 

683. Fleet deer. See on 605 above. 

707. At morning prime. Early in the morning. Prime is properly 
the first canonical hour of prayer, or 6 a.m. For its looser use here, 
cf. F. Q. ii. 9. 25 : "at evening and at prime." 

712 Stayed. Supported; not to be printed "staid," as in some 
editions. 

716. Within, etc. The MS. reads: 

" Within 't was brilliant all, and bright 
The vision glowed on Ellen's sight." 



CANTO VI. 265 

726. Presence. Presence-chamber. Cf. Rich. II. i. 3. 289: 

" Suppose the singing birds musicians, 
The grass whereon thou tread'st the presence strew'd " 

(that is, strewn with rushes) ; Hen. VIII. iii. i. 17 : 

" the two great cardinals 
Wait in the presence," etc. 

727. For him, etc. The MS. reads: "For him who owned tliio 
royal state." 

737. Sheen. Bright. See on i. 208 above. 

740. And Snotvdoim^s Knight is Scotland's King. Scott says : '^ This 
discovery will probably remind the reader of the beautiful Arabian tale 
of // Bondocani. Yet the incident is not borrowed from that elegant 
story, but from Scottish tradition. James V., of whom we are treating, 
was a monarch whose good and benevolent intentions often rendered 
his romantic freaks venial, if not respectable, since, from his anxious 
attention to the interests of the lower and most oppressed class of his 
subjects, he was, as we have seen, popularly termed the King of the 
Commons. For the purpose of seeing that justice was regularly admin- 
istered, and frequently from the less justifiable motive of gallantry, he 
used to traverse the vicinage of his several palaces in various disguises. 
The two excellent comic songs entitled TJi-e Gaberhmzie Man and 
We'll gae ttae mair a roving are said to have been founded upon the 
success of his amorous adventures when travelling in the disguise of a 
beggar. The latter is perhaps the best comic ballad in any language. 

" Another adventure, which had nearly cost James his life, is said 
to have taken place at the village of Cramond, near Edinburgh, where he 
had rendered his addresses acceptable to a pretty girl of the lower rank. 
Four or five persons, whether relations or lovers of his mistress is 
uncertain, beset the disguised monarch as he returned from his rendez- 
vous. Naturally gallant, and an admirable master of his weapon, the 
King took post on the high and narrow bridge over the Almond river, 
and defended himself bravely with his sword. A peasant who was 
thrashing in a neighboring barn came out upon the noise, and, whether 
moved by compassion or by natural gallantry, took the weaker side, and 
laid about with his flail so effectually as to disperse the assailants, well 
thrashed, even according to the letter. He then conducted the King 
into his barn, where his guest requested a basin and a towel, to remove 
the stains of the broil. This being procured with difficulty, James em- 
ployed himself in learning what was the summit of his deliverer's 
earthly wishes, and found that they were bounded by the desire of 
possessing, in property, the farm of Braehead, upon which he labored 
as a bondsman. The lands chanced to belong to the Crown ; and James 
directed him to come to the palace of Holyrood and in,quire for the 
Guidman (that is, farmer) of Ballenguich, a name by which he was 
known in his excursions, and which answered to the // Bondocani of 
Haroun Alraschid. He presented himself accordingly, and found, with 
due astonishment, that he had saved his monarch's life, and that he 
was to be gratified with a crown charter of the lands of Braehead, under 
' the service of presenting a ewer, basin, and towel for the King to wash 

\ 



266 NOTES, 

his hands when he shall happen to pass the bridge of Cramond. This 
person was ancestor of the Howisons of Braehead, in Mid-Lothian, a 
respectable family, who continue to hold the lands (now passed into 
the female line) under the same tenure. ^ 

" Another of James's frolics is thus narrated by Mr. Campbell from 
the Statistical Account: 'Being once benighted when out a-hunting, 
and separated from his attendants, he happened to enter a cottage in 
the midst of a moor, at the foot of the Ochil hills, near Alloa, where, 
unknown, he was kindly received. In order to regale their unexpected 
guest, the gicde/fian desired the gudewife to fetch the hen that roosted 
nearest the cock, which is always the plumpest, for the stranger's sup- 
per. The King, highly pleased with his night's lodging and hospitable 
entertainment, told mine host, at parting, that he should be glad to 
return his civility, and requested that the first time he came to Stirling 
he would call at the Castle, and inquire for the Giideinan of Ballengitich. 
Donaldson, the landlord, did not fail to call on the Gtideynan of Ballen- 
guic/i, when his astonishment at finding that the King had been his 
guest afforded no small amusement to the merry monarch and his 
courtiers ; and to carry on the pleasantry, he was thenceforth designated 
by James with the title of King of the Moors, which name and designa- 
tion have descended from father to son ever since, and they have con- 
tinued in possession of the identical spot, the property of Mr. Erskine 
of Mar, till very lately, when this gentleman with reluctance turned out 
the descendant and representative of the King of the Moors, on account 
of his Majesty's invincible indolence, and great dislike to reform or 
innovation of any kind, although, from the spirited example of his 
neighbor tenants on the same estate, he is convinced similar exertion 
would promote his advantage.' 

" The author requests permission yet farther to verify the subject of 
his poem, by an extract from the genealogical work of Buchanan of 
Auchmar, upon Scottish surnames {Essay upon the Family of Buchanan, 

P- 74) : 

' This John Buchanan of Auchmar and Arnpryor was afterwards 
termed King of Kippen [a small district of Perthshire] upon the follow- 
ing account : King James V., a very sociable, debonair prince, residing 
at Stirling, in Buchanan of Arnpryor's time, carriers were very fre- 
quently passing along the common road, being near Arnpryor's house, 
with necessaries for the use of the King's family ; and he, having some 
extraordinary occasion, ordered one of these carriers to leave his load 
at his house, and he would pay him for it; which the carrier refused 
to do, telling him he was the King's carrier, and his load for his Majesty's 
use ; to which Arnpryor seemed to have small regard, compelling the 
carrier, in the end, to leave his load ; telling him, if King James was 
King of Scotland, he was King of Kippen, so that it was reasonable he 
should share with his neighbor king in some of these loads, so fre- 



* " Tlie reader will find this story told at greater length, and with the addition in par- 
ticular of the King being recognized, like the Fitz-James of the Lady of the Lake, hy 
being the only person covered, in tlie First Series of Tales of a Grandfather, vol. iii. 
37. The heir of Braehead discharged his duty at the banquet given to King George 
V. in the Parliament House at Edinburgh, in 1822" (Lockhart). 



? 



CANTO VI. 267 

|uently carried that road. The carrier representing this usage, and 
telling the story as Arnpryor spoke it, to some of the King's servants, 
it came at length to his Majesty's ears, who shortly thereafter, with a few 
attendants, came to visit his neighbor king, who was in the meantime 
at dinner. King James, having sent a servant to demand access, was 
denied the same by a tall fellow with a battle-axe, who stood porter 
at the gate, telling there could be no access till dinner was over. This 
answer not satisfying the King, he sent to demand access a second 
time ; upon which he was desired by the porter to desist, otherwise 
he would find cause to repent his rudeness. His Majesty finding this 
method would not do, desired the porter to tell his master that the 
Goodman of Ballangeigh desired to speak with the King of Kippen. 
The porter telling Arnpryor so much, he, in all humble manner, came 
and received the King, and having entertained him with much sump- 
tuousness and jollity, became so agreeable to King James, that he 
allowed him to take so much of any provision he found carrying that 
road as he had occasion for ; and seeing he made the first visit, desired 
Arnpryor in a few days to return him a second to Stirling, which he 
performed, and continued in very much favor with the King, always 
thereafter being termed King of Kippen while he lived.' 

" The readers of Ariosto must give credit for the amiable features 
with which James is represented, since he is generally considered as 
the prototype of Zerbino, the most interesting hero of the Orlando 
Ftirioso." 

743. Glided from her stay. The MS. has " shrinking, quits her stay." 

Ruskin asks us to " note the northern love of rocks " in this passage, 
and adds : " Dante could not have thought of his ' cut rocks ' as giving 
rest even to snow. He must put it on the pine branches, if it is to be 
at peace." Taylor quotes Holmes, Autocrat of Breakfast Table : " She 
melted away from her seat like an image of snow." 

780. Try. Look pryingly or curiously. In prose on would not be 
used with pry. 

784. To speed. To a fortunate issue ; unless speed be the verb, and = 
pass. 

786. In life's more low but happier way. The MS. has " In lowly life's 
more happy way." 

789. The name of Snowdoun. Scott says : " William of Worcester, who 
wrote about the middle of the fifteenth century, calls Stirling Castle 
Snowdoun. Sir David Lindsay bestows the same epithet upon it in his 
Complaint of the Papingo : 

'Adieu, fair Snawdoun, with thy towers high. 
Thy chaple-royal, park, and table round; 
May, June, and July, would I dwell in thee. 
Were I a man, to hear the birdis sound, 
Whilk doth agane thy royal rock rebound.' 

"Mr. Chalmers, in his late excellent edition of Sir David Lindsay's 
works, has refuted the chimerical derivation of Snawdoun from sned- 
ding, or cutting. It was probably derived from the romantic legend 
which connected Stirling with King Arthur, to which the mention of 
the Round Table gives countenance. The ring within which justs were 



2 68 NOTES. 

formerly practised in the Castle park, is still called the Round Table. 
Snawdoun is the official title of one of the Scottish heralds, whose epi- 
thets seem in all countries to have been fantastically adopted from 
ancient history or romance. 

" It appears from the preceding note that the real name by which 
James was actually distinguished in his private excursions was the 
Goodman of Ballengtiich ; derived from a steep pass leading up to the 
Castle of Stirling, so called. But the epithet would not have suited 
poetry, and would besides at once, and prematurely, have announced 
the plot to many of my countrymen, among whom the traditional stories 
above mentioned are still current." 

798. My spell -hound steps. The MS. has . 

"Thy sovereign back ) ^^ Benvenue." 
Thy sovereign s steps ) 

800. Glaive. Sword. See on iv. 274 above. 

803. Pledge of my faith, etc. The MS. has " Pledge of Fitz-James's 
faith, the ring.'' 

808. A lightejting. Some eds. have " A lightning." 

809. And more, etc. The MS. reads : 

■' And in her breast strove maiden shame ; 
More deep she deemed the Monarch's ire 
Kindled 'gainst him, who, for her sire, 
Against his Sovereign broadsword drew; 
And, with a pleading, warm and true, 
She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu." 

813. Grace. Pardon. 

825. Stained. Reddened. 

829. The Grceme. Jeffrey says : " Malcom Graeme has too insignifi- 
cant a part assigned him, considering the favor in which he is held both 
by Ellen and the author ; and in bringing out the shaded and imperfect 
character of Roderick Dhu as a contrast to the purer virtue of his 
rival, Mr. Scott seems to have fallen into the common error of making 
him more interesting than him whose virtues he was intended to set 
off, and converted the villain of the piece in some measure into its 
hero. A modern poet, however, may perhaps be pardoned for an error 
of which Milton himself is thought not to have kept clear, and for 
which there seems so natural a cause in the difference between poetical 
and amiable characters." 

837. Warder. Guard, jailer. 

841. Lockhart quotes here the following extract from a letter of 
Byron's to Scott, dated July 6, 181 2: 

"And now, waiving myself, let me talk to you of the Prince Regent. 
He ordered me to be presented to him at a ball ; and after some say- 
ings, peculiarly pleasing from royal lips, as to my own attempts, he 
talked to me of you and your immortalities : he preferred you to every 
bard past and present, and asked which of your works pleased me 
most. It was a difficult question. I answered, I thought the Lay. He 
said his own opinion was nearly similar. In speaking of the others, I 
told him that I thought you more particularly the poet of princes, as 
they never appeared more fascinating than in Marmion and The Lady 



CANTO VI. 269 

of the Lake. He was pleased to coincide, and to dwell on the descrip- 
tion of your James's as no less royal than poetical. He spoke alter- 
nately o£ Homer and yourself, and seemed well acquainted with both." 

842. Harp of the North, farewell ! Cf. the introduction to the poem. 

846. Wizard elm. See on i. 2 above. 

850. Housing. Returning to the hive. 

858. The grief devoured. For the figure, cf. Ps. xlii. 3, Ixxx. 5, and 
Isa. XXX. 20. 

859. O'erlive. Several eds. misprint " o'erlived.'* 



ADDENDUM. 

Since our first edition appeared we have had the privilege of examin- 
ing a copy of Scott's 2d ed. (1810), belonging to Mr. E. S. Gould, of 
Yonkers, N. Y. This 2d ed. is in smaller type than the ist, and in 
octavo form, the ist being in quarto. A minute collation of the text 
with that of the ist ed. and our own shows that Scott carefully revised 
the poem for this 2d ed., and that the changes he afterwards made in it 
were few and unimportant. For instance, the text includes the verbal, 
changes which we have adopted in i. 198, 290, 432, ii. 103, 201, 203, 534, 
iii. 30, 173, 190, 508, V. 106. 253, 728, 811, vi. 6, 112, 527, 556, 567, etc. 
In vi. 291 fol. it reads (including the omissions and insertions) as in our 
text. In i. 336, 340, the pointing is the same as in the ist ed. ; and in 
i. 360, the reading is " dear." In ii. 865, 866, it varies from the pointing 
of the 1st ed. ; but we are inclined to regard this as a misprint, not a 
correction. In ii. 76 this 2d ed. has "lingerewave " for "lingerer wave," 
and in ii. 217 it repeats the preposterous misprint of "his glee " from 
the 1st. ed. If Scott could overlook such palpable errors as these, he 
might easily fail to detect the misplacing of a comma. We have our 
doubts as to i. 336, 340, where the ist and 2d eds. agree ; but there a 
misprint may have been left uncorrected, as in ii. 217. 

Jan 25, 1884. 




bii.sn's islb. 



INDEX OF WORDS AND 
EXPLAINED. 



PHRASES 



Aberfoyle, 183. 

according pause, 181. 

Achray, Loch, 183. 

adown, 182. 

advised (= considered), 228. 

after (adverb), 196. 

Albany, 243. 

Allan, the, 238. 

Alloa, 254. 

amain, 185. 

antiquity (concrete), 214. 

archer wight, 253. 

Ard, Loch, 183. 

art (= affectation), 237. 

as (= as if), 196, 208, 237, 

262. 
Ascabart, 192. 
astound (participle), 210. 
astrand, 260. 
at bay, 240, 263. 
atone (transitive), 237, 255. 

Balquidder, 224, 

Balvaig, the, 224. 

Bannochar, 205. 

bard, 195. 

barded, 262. 

barret-cap, 260. 

battalia, 262. 

battled, 210, 257. 

batten, 238. 

bay (turn to, etc.)) '84, 240, 

263. 
be (rzare), 212. 
beacon (figure), 181. 
Beala-nam-bo, 219, 226. 
Beal' an Duine, 261. 
Beal'maha, 229. 
beamed frontlet, 182. 
beetled o'er, 209. 
bell at heel, 251. 
Beltane, 203. 
Ben-an, 187. 
Benharrow, 215. 
Benledi, 183. 
Ben Lomond, 207, 
Ben-Shie, 217. 
Ben venue, 183. 



Benvoirlich, 181. 

beshrew, 188. 

better time, in, 238. 

black-jack, 258. 

Blair-Drummond, 249. 

Blantyre, 207. 

Bleeding Heart, the, 199, 

209. 
blench, 209. 
bide (=: endure), 228. 
birchen, 190. 
Bochastle, 183, 227, 237. 
bonnet-pieces, 263. 
boon (adjective), 186. 
bosky, 220. 
boss, 229. 

Bothwell Castle, 198, 207 
boune, 228, 249, 262. 
bourgeon, 204. 
bourne, 237. 
bout, 228. 
bower ! = chamber), 186,197, 

237, 244, 259. 
bracken, 224. 
Bracklinn, 201. 
brae, 224. 

Braes of Doune, 228. 
brands, 210. 
brave (=: fine), 203. 
Breadalbane, 204, 264. 
breath (rhyme), 186. 
Brianchoil, 203. 
bridal (collective), 224. 
bridegroom (accent), 238. 
Brigg of Turk, 183. 
broke (=: quartered), 229. 
brook (verb), 192, 215. 
bucklered, 216. 
burden (of song), 204, 257. 
buxom (= lively), 258. 
by (rr gone by), 249. 
by (muttered), 242, 

cabala, 216. 
cairn, 182. 
Caledon, 181. 

Cambus - kenneth Abbey, 
231, 249. 



Cambusmore, 183. 
canna, 203. 
Cardross Castle, 225. 
Carhonie's hill, 249. 
carpet knight, 247. 
catch (song), 258._ 
chanters (of bagpipe), 203. 
chase (= hunters), 182. 
checkered shroud, 210. 
cheer (= countenance), 22* 
chide (figurative), 187. 
chiding (of noise), 185, 
chime (=r music), 263. 
chime (= sing), 238. 
churchman, 187. 
cognizance, 256. 
coif-clad, 224. 
coil (= turmoil), 224. 
Coilantogle's ford, 241. 
Coir-nan-Uriskin, 225. 
Coir-Uriskin, 219, 225. 
Clan-Alpine, 199. 
claymore, 201. 
clematis, 191. 
cloister, 187. 
cloister (feminine), 216. 
common fool, this, 256. 
Con, Loch, 225- 
confusedly (trisyllable), 187. 
conjure (withoutobject),237. 
coronach, 221. 
correi, 222. 
Craigforth, 249. 
crossing (= conflicting), 2 10. 
cumber (= trouble), 222. 
curch, 216, 224. 
curious (= inquisitive), 216 
cushat dove, 214. 

daggled, 240. 
dank, 242. 
dappled sky, 242. 
darkling, 232, 240. 
Deanstown, 249. 
deep-mouthed, 181. 
Dennan's Row, 229. 
Devan, the, 238. 
dewing (= bedewing), 194. 



2 72 INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED. 



Dhu, 200. 
Doine, Loch, 225. 
Douglas, the, 200. 
Doune, 228, 240, 249. 
down (= hill), 193. 
Dnchray Castle, 225. 
Diincraggan, 220, 263. 
Dunfermline, 237. 

Earl William, 256. 
Earn, 231. 
Ellen's isle, 190. 
embossed, 183. 
emprise, 190. 
enow, 209. 
errant damosel, 259. 
errant -knight, 190. 
erne, 262. 
Ettrick, the, 209. 
evening-iide, 228. 

fall the worst, etc, 188. 
fared (= went), 238. 
favor (=r token), 240. 
Ferragus, 192. 
Fiery Cross, the, 212. 
flood (:=: flow), 246. 
flushing {^ full bloom), 222. 
for (= for fear of), 256. 
Franciscan steeple, 250. 
frequent (adverb), 190. 
Friar Tuck, 253. 

Gael, 242. 
Gallangad, 228. 
gallowglasses, 229. 
garnish forth, 192. 
gathering (verbal), 212. 
Gillian, 258. 
glaive, 232, 24s, 268. 
glen, 215. 
Glenartney, 182. 
Glenfinlas, 208. 
Glen Fruin, 205. 
Glengyle, 203. 
Glen Luss, 205. 
glee-maiden, 259. 
glinted, 245. 
glozing, 208. 
good faith, 244. 
grace (=: pardon), 268. 
GrjEme, 196, 268. 
grief devoured, 269. 
grisly, 195, 235. 
guerdon, 200. 

halberd, 257. 

hall and bower, 197. 

hardened flesh of deer, 241. 

henchman, 211. 

Hero's Targe, the, 229. 

hest, 222. 

him (reflexive), 185. 



Holyrood, 189, 200. 
holytide, 257. 
housing bee, 269. 
hurricane (metaphor), 183. 
hurl the bar, 255. 
Hyndford, 255. 

Inch-Cailliach, 199, 218. 
Idsan vine, 197. 
impatient blade, 214. 

jack (armor), 245. 

Katrine, Loch, 187. 
kerchief, 224, 258. 
kern, 229, 237, 247. 
Kier, 249. 
kill (=r cell), 201. 
Kilmaronock, 201. 
kindly (= natural), 235. 

Ladies' Rock, the, 255. 

Lanrick Height, 227. 

Lanvick Mead, 219. 

Larbert, 254. 

lay {"=■ were staked), 245. 

leech (=: physician), 260. 

Lendrick, 249. 

Lennox, 200, 205. 

level (1= aim), 210. 

Leven-glen, 206. 

Lincoln green, igo, 237, 238, 

. 249. 
Links of Forth, 209. 
linn, 182, 263. 
Little John, 253. 
livelier light, 187. 
Lochard,i83. 
Lomond, Loch, 199. 
lordship, 238. 
lost (= forgot), 256. 
Lubnaig, Loch, 224. 
lurch (= rob), 258. 

mankind (accent), 217. 
manned himself, 245. 
Maronnan's cell, 201. 
mavis, 232. 
measured mood, 188. 
Meggat's mead, 209. 
Menteith, 182, 204, 207, 225. 
mere (= lake), 189. 
merle, 232. 

mewed (=shut up), 243. 
misarray, 255. 
Monan's rill, 181. 
morning-tide, 223, 237. 
morrice-dancers, 250. 
Mutch, 253. 

Naiad, 188. 

needs but a buffet, 255. 

Needwood, 259. 



news (number), 208. 
nighted, 210. 

Ochtertyre, 249. 
one onl}', 188. 
opening (zn barking), i8a. 
orisons, 195. 

pale (heraldic), 230. 

pall, 232. 

part (=act),259. 

part (=: depart), 196, 2ic^ 

235, 263. 
Percy's pennon, 207. 
perforce, 182. 
peril (verb), 208. 
pibroch, 194, 203. 
pitched a bar, 238. 
pitching toils, 239. 
placket, 258. 
plaid (rhyme), 188, 258. 
plaided, 196. 
play my prize, 251. 
point (= appoint), 212. 
pomp (= procession), 207. 
Poule, 258. 

presence (=: chamber), 265. 
pricked (= spurred), 249, 

.255. 
prime (=r morning), 264. 
prore, 260. 
prune (of birds), 189. 
pry on, 267. 
purvey, 259. 

quarry (= game), 184, 209. 
questing, 220. 

rears, 243. 

reave, 199. 

reck of, 238. 

red (= bloody), 222. 

Rednock Castle, 225. 

require (rr request), 192. 

reveille, 194. 

Richard (accent), 232. 

Robin Hood, 252. 

rood (= cross), 189. 

Ross-dhu, 205. 

rouse (rr rise), 230. 

rowan, 214. 

ruth (= pity), 247. 

sable-lettered, 216. 

sack (rr wine), 258. 

Saint Bride's Chapel, 223. 

Saint Fillan, 180. 

Saint Hubert's breed, 184. 

Saint Modan, 197. 

Saint Serle. 249. 

Satyrs (^ Urisks), 226. 

save ( with subjunctive), 201. 

'scapes, 238. 

Scarlet, 253. 



INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED. 273 



scathe, 237. 

Scathelocke, 253. 

scaur, 220. 

scourge and steel, 183. 

shame (reflexive), 259. 

sheen (adjective), 186, 232, 

242, 265. 
shingles, 242, 243. 
shinglj', 218. 
shred (=: cut off), 240. 
shrewdly, 182. 
shroud (^garment), 210. 
shrouds (^protects), 200. 
slip (hunter's term); 240. 
snood, 188, 216. 
Snowdoun, 192, 267. 
sooth (adjective), igo, 231. 
sooth (noun), 242. 
speed, 267.' 
Spey, the, 199. 
stag of ten, 239. 
stained (= reddened), 268. 
stake (^ prize), 253. 
stance, 231. 
stayed, 264. 
steal, 242. 

steel (=:spur), 1S3, 249. 
steel (= sword), 183. 
steepy, 219, 237. 
still (=: stillness), 226. 
stock (= tree-stump), 184. 
store (adjective), 192, 212, 

263. 
store (= plenty), 258. 
storied (windows), 264. 
strath, 2r5. 
Strath-Endrick, 208. 
Strath-Gartney, 225. 
Strath -I re, 223. 
strathspey, 199. 
streight, 209. 



strook, 218. 
Stumah, 222. 
surge (rhyme), 263. 

Taghairm, 228, 241. 

targe, 192, 247. 

target, 192. 

tartans, 203. 

tartan screen, 259. 

Teith, the, 183, 223. 

Teviot, the, 209. 

that (omitted), 210. 

there are who have, 209. 

thrilled (= quivered), 239. 

tide (= time), 223, 257. 

Tinchel, 262. 

Tine-man, 290. 

to (:= for), 209. 

to (omitted), 249, 264. 

toils (= nets), 239. 

Torry, 249. 

train (=lure), 237. 

Trent, 258. 

troll, 258. 

Trosachs, 185. 

trowed, 231. 

Tullibardine, 259. 

turn to bay, 184. 

Tweed, the, 199. 

't were (= it would be), 183. 

twilight wood, 262. 

Uam-Var, 182. 

unbated, 183. 
unbonneted, 249. 
unhocded (falcon), 207. 
unwitting, 224. 
upsees, 258. 

vair, 232. 
vaward, 262. 



Vennachar, Loch, 183. 
verge (pronunciation), 229, 

256. 
Veil, Loch, 224. 

vi^aned crescent, 207. 
ward (^ guarding), 255. 
ward (in fencing), 248. 
ward (=: ward off), 255. 
warder (=: jailer), 268. 
weeds (= garments), 238; 

249. 
weeped, 206. 
weird, 194. 

what time, 201, 212, 228. 
which (omitted), 191. 
whinyard, 185. 
who (omitted), 196, 225, 230, 

263. 
widow (proleptic), 255. 
wildering, 187, 189, 242. 
wilding, 228. 

winded (= wound), 191,242. 
wist, 237. 
wit (verb), 224. 
witch-elm, 180, 269. 
wizard elm, 269. 
woe the while, 201. 
woe worth, 185. 
wold, 232, 240. 
woned, 232. 
wont (=: are wont), 189, 232.. 

263. 
wont (= wonted), 246. 
wot, 192, 225, 260. 
wreak {= avenge), 240. 

Yarrow, the, 209. 
yell, 220, 227. 
yesternight, 189. 




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